Animal Crossing: The Best Of Us
by rainbowscout98
Summary: Mayor of Town New Leaf finds the town has been attacked. When infectious cordyceps attack his town the council had decided to Isolate all the towns to keep it from spreading. Train is the only safe, quick way of travel and a checkpoint between New Leaf an Celeste town got knocked out. Now it's up to Mayor and Isabelle to find the checkpoint and reactivate it in the middle of it all
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Animal crossing, any characters associated with the canon animation and games as well as I do not own any rights to The Last Of Us or any zombies, infected, clickers, bloaters or any other zombie name unlisted that has been used by The Last Of Us game. This is purely a work of fiction meant for the entertainment of the readers. All rights to Animal crossing belongs to Nintendo and those who created the game as well as all rights to The Last Of Us game belong to NaughtyDog game industry as well as it's creators. Please enjoy and I will be working on this attempting to upload a new chapter at least every week. Thank you and enjoy.**

It was late one night when it happened. Isabelle was working at her desk after the Mayor had left to home. She sat and typed on her computer Emails to the Mayoral Council about the idea of a project to show they're affiliations, per the Mayors idea. Halfway through the Email Isabelle started to fall asleep. Her eyes started to droop and get heavy when someone slammed the door and locked it, coming inside. Isabelle jumped at the noise and looked over at the door to see the Mayor standing frightened. "Isabelle, are you ok? Has anyone come here?" Mayor asked.

"N-No sir! No one came in! I promise!" She said startled. Mayor nodded and went over to his desk and opened a drawer. "What's wrong, sir?" She asked.

"I saw Shari as I was walking home and… I don't know she just charged right for me. She looked insane. I ran right over and the entire time she was chasing me." Mayor pulled out and black gun and put it on his desk.

"M-Mister Mayor! Why do you have that here?!" Isabelle asked. Mayor opened his mouth and just before he could say anything the door was slammed into by something. Isabelle and Mayor looked over at the door. Something slammed into it again.

"Isabelle, get over here." Mayor said. Isabelle ran over behind the Mayor who lifted his gun up. Shari bust down the door and looked up at Mayor and Isabelle. "Shari stay back." Mayor warned. Shari started growling and got up. "Shari, I am warning you for the last time, just go home." Shari ran around the desks and Mayor shot her. Shari dropped to the floor with a thud. Mayors breathing was heavy and he pulled Isabelle around the desk and put Shar out of sight.

"Y-you shot her." Isabelle said in shock. Her eyes were wide as the Mayor had her look at him.

"Isabelle, look at me. Contact the council immediately. I need to know if this is happening elsewhere." Mayor said. Isabelle nodded and shook herself trying to get the thought of Mayor shooting Shari out of her mind. Mayor picked up Shari and brought her outside. He buried her and placed a grave over her made of sticks. Mayor went back inside and saw Isabelle struggling to type. "Isabelle." Mayor said. She looked at him and he stepped over to her. "I'm sorry if you can't look at me the same way and honestly I didn't want to do what I did, but you need to contact the other towns. We need to make sure this isn't happening everywhere." Mayor said. Isabelle looked down at her keyboard and started to cry before hugging Mayor. He hugged her back, knowing this was hard for an innocent secretary like her. She eventually let go and blew her nose on a tissue.

"I'll get it done as soon as possible Mr. Mayor." Isabelle said with a now determined look on her face. Mayor nodded and pat her head before walking back to his desk and picked up the phone. He dialed in a number and called someone.

"Copper. I need you and Booker over here at the town hall immediately. We have something to discuss." Mayor said turning his attention to the grave outside the window.

The next day Mayor and Isabelle stood before the town with Booker and Copper by the side of the stand. "People of New Leaf. Today I stand before you with horrid news. A member of our quiet little town was recently killed. I claim responsibility for the death of Shari," Mayor said. The villagers started whispering to each other in shock. "But before you go yelling at me out of anger I must state that it was in self defense. Shari was angry. Crazy. She looked not like herself but rather more a monster. She attacked me and Isabelle in town hall." The Mayor said. He looked at Copper and nodded. Copper pressed a button on a remote and it played a security tape from last night. It showed Shari charging Mayor and Isabelle. With audio the citizens could listen hearing Mayor warn her multiple times before shooting her. The villagers looked at each other worried about what happened. "Copper checked the body and found that she was under the control of a deadly virus. We worry that this virus may have spread. Please once you get the chance check in with doctor Shrink. He can evaluate whether you have been infected or not." Once Mayor finished the citizens went off their own ways some leaving in groups and talking. Mayor sighed.

"Mr. Mayor, what're we gonna do?" Isabelle asked. Mayor thought for a second before closing his eyes. He hated the idea but it was the only one he had.

"We close the gates. No one gets in or out without my permission. Understand?" Mayor asked. Isabelle nodded. She could see the desperation in Mayors eyes. He had no better option and this seemed to be the only one that could control the virus.

Copper and Booker closed the gates and were stationed near it to watch the people coming in or out. Mayor hated to confine his citizens and would often sit down at a bench near the gate worried. It took days before a response was returned from one of the mayors in the mayoral council. The red mayor Abby had responded to the Email saying that her town seemed slight in infection. All the mayors who had responded had agreed that the train stations to their towns would be open until otherwise stated. This provided easy and safe transport from town to town. After which the towns started purchasing weapons to better protect their people. Mayor felt trapped in his little town. He was scared but for the sake of his people showed it not.

It had been about a year and six months since the outbreak. Mayor had kept an eye on the outside of the town and with every passing week all the way down to day new infected seemed to appear. He even pointed out that some seemed to be growing mushrooms on their flesh to Booker and Chopper. Mayor went back to town hall and as soon as he got in he saw Isabelle asleep on her desk. Mayor smiled. She deserved this rest. Instead of waking her he let her sleep. She had been worried about the infected storming the town for a while now and sometimes she would even refuse to leave town hall. He walked past her and sat in his desk. He pulled out his gun and looked at how many rounds he had in it. He sighed at how he remembered the first one he killed with it. One of his villagers named Shari. Mayor put the gun down and checked his Email. One came in from the mayor of a town next door named Celeste town. He opened the Email. "Oh dear Mod." Mayor said standing up a bit afraid.

"Dear Mayor of New Leaf

The train tracks to my town have been slightly busted and upon inspection realized that the problem comes from a railway checkpoint about a six days walk from my town. We inspected a map and decided to head out but as soon as we opened the gates were almost swarmed with infected. We have decided to hunker down and wait out the infestation but that checkpoint needs to be reactivated otherwise transport to other towns will be impossible. Please respond as quickly as possible.

-Mayor of Celeste town"

Mayor sighed and looked around his desk. Copper, Booker and him have all been keeping an eye on the gate so they didn't have to deal with swarms of infected. He had an opening if no one else did but the problem was that checkpoint is about a twelve day walk. two weeks from New leaf to there. Mayor put some heavy consideration into it before grabbing his phone and calling Copper and Booker from the gate. "Copper." Mayor said. "Grab Booker and meet me over in the town hall conference room. We have something to discuss."

A couple hours later Mayor was sitting in the seat he usually takes with town government discussions. Isabelle was absent as she was still asleep at her desk as far as Mayor knew. "Booker, Copper. I have some pressing news." Mayor started.

Copper looked intently and Booker had his usual sleepy look. "What news might this be, Mr. Mayor, sir?" Copper asked.

Mayor stood and started to pace around nervously. "The railway checkpoint that restores power to the trailways as they pass to go to Celeste town has been deactivated for some unknown reason." Mayor said. He stopped and looked at the two. "And I'm going out there to reactivate it." He finished. Copper looked shocked and Booker woke up more than usual.

"B-but sir! That's a twelve day suicide mission from here!" Copper said

"Why not just have someone from Celeste town deal with it?" Booker asked.

"Because they're all trapped. Unlike us the Celeste town residence didn't keep a clear watch on the gate. Now they're swarmed and we're the closest besides them to get that checkpoint open. Without it anyone in the train is just food waiting to get eaten." Mayor said.

"Then send us!" Copper exclaimed.

"That's gonna be a negative, Copper. You two need to stay here and keep the citizens calm. You're security. Police. That's what you're paid to do, that's what you're gonna do. I'll go out, reactivate the checkpoint and be back within the month." Mayor said.

"If you're going then I'm coming, too." A familiar female voice said. Mayor looked past Booker and Copper who had turned to investigate as well to see Isabelle.

"What? Isabelle no. You have to stay here." Mayor refuted.

"That's gonna be a negative, Mayor. I'm not gonna sit this one out. I insist you bring me along, too." She said back. Mayor put his fingers under his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"Isabelle. You've got to stay. This mission is damn near suicide. I can't have you dying on me. It'll be too much for you." Mayor said. Isabelle opened her mouth to speak again but Mayor cut her off. "You're staying and that's final, Isabelle. Copper Booker. Keep an eye on the gate. I'll go grab some necessary equipment. I'll be back in ten, twenty max." Mayor said leaving the conference room. Isabelle looked at Copper and Booker with big eyes and it was obvious she was about to cry.

"Gah!" Copper was taken aback and looked like he was about to take cover under a chair but Booker was just standing waiting for the inevitable.

Mayor gathered his stuff and brought it to the gate. Copper and Booker stood by it with their weapons just in case. "I'm heading out. Open the-" The mayor was cut off by a faint sound in the distance.

"Wait! Wait!" It was Isabelle. Mayor turned and was shocked to see her wearing a survival bag. He turned to look at Copper and Booker who both turned their attention away as soon as the Mayor looked over to Isabelle.

"You're letting her come with me?" Mayor loudly whispered looking a bit furious at the complete disobeyment of a direct order.

"We're sorry, sir, but she had those eyes and her quivering lip!" Copper said.

"She was just too adorable. Please don't fire us, sir." Booker pleaded.

Mayor closed his eyes and breathed a couple heavy breaths. Isabelle ran up a bit out of breath wearing jeans, a t-shirt and a survival backpack. "I'm… ready to go… sir." She said. Mayor looked at her after taking some breaths.

"Isabelle. Again. This mission is highly dangerous. That's why I need to go alone." Mayor restated.

"Mayor, again. This mission is highly dangerous. That's why you need someone to watch your back." Isabelle said. Mayor was about to argue before he realized her point and sighed.

"Fine but this isn't a cakewalk, Isabelle. I expect you to listen and follow every direction I give you." Mayor said. Isabelle smiled.

"Mayor, I'm your secretary. That's my job." She said. She walked past Mayor and stood in front of the gate. Mayor sighed and stood next to her. He looked at Booker and nodded. Booker grabbed the crank and opened the gate. The trail leading away from the town was dark and covered with trees.

"As soon as we're out close the gate. I don't want anything getting in or out." Mayor said. Booker saluted for the first time in a while. Isabelle and Mayor stepped out with Mayor leading the way. As soon as the two passed the point of the gate doors Booker cranked it closed. Mayor sighed and pulled out his pistol. He checked the rounds one last time and saw a full clip of six bullets. He put the chamber back into the revolver and put the gun back into its holster. "Well. It's a twelve days walk to get there. Let's get a move on." Mayor said. The duo walked farther into the forest, it growing more and more dense with each step. Isabelle walked behind Mayor keeping close.


	2. Chapter 2

The sound of growling was heard from inside the forest. Mayor looked around with his right hand on the handle of his gun. "Isabelle. Did you hear that?" Mayor asked. Isabelle looked sluggish and slow.

"Yes, sir. That would be my stomach." Isabelle said with a sluggish smile. Mayors stance dropped. He took his hand off the gun and looked back at Isabelle.

"Here. I have something to eat in my bag." Mayor put his bag down and unzipped the big pocket and handed Isabelle a bag of M&amp;M's. "Eat up. I'm not pulling out the lunch food until three so just have those." Mayor said. Isabelle was surprised. Not eating until three. This idea was almost impossible to her. She nibbled one out of the pack.

"Y-yes, sir." Isabelle said.

"I don't like it either, Isabelle but we have to make do. I didn't expect you to come with me." Mayor said. he looked at her as she chewed on another M&amp;M. He sighed but then smiled at her slightly. The two walked further into the forest coming upon it's opening. Mayor looked on outside the entrance to see a destroyed city with a broken Highway bridge to it. Mayors face fell to a frown. "I remember this city. I would come by here sometimes for the Mayoral council meeting." Mayor said.

Isabelle walked up next to him and gasped at the sight. "W-what happened?" Isabelle asked.

"The country government was trying to control the virus by destroying places it was in before it could spread. But it's a fungus. It's airborne as spores. All they did was increase it's spread around that city. You brought a gas mask right?" Mayor asked. Isabelle shook her head causing Mayor to sigh. "I guess we'll just have to avoid spore areas. Let's go. The checkpoint is beyond this city. Going through is the quickest option though it may prove to be more dangerous." Mayor thought for a second and Isabelle started forward when he wasn't paying attention.

"Come on, Mayor. It's the quickest way right? Let's go!" She said from up ahead. Mayor snapped out of thought and followed, getting in front of her and leading the way. The two walked into the city. Broken and lopsided streets made paths to different buildings. "This place is so different. I remember when it looked amazing for the Mayoral Council." Isabelle said. Mayor nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. Now it's just... dead." Mayor said for lack of a better word. A screech echoed through the city and Mayor quickly pulled out his gun. Isabelle jumped behind the mayor as soon as the sound reached them. The two's breath went heavy from anxiousness. After a moment or two Mayor stood back up tall but kept his gun in his hand.

"What was that?" Isabelle asked looking around, looking in the mirror like windows to see if she saw anything inside.

"Probably an infected. It's too far away to worry about now but it won't be for very long." Mayor said. He kept his guard up and held the pistol tight in his hand. "C'mon. We need to keep moving." Mayor said. He moved forward with Isabelle following closely behind. The two were stopped eventually by an unclimbable piece to street that jumped up when the city went under.

"What now, sir?" Isabelle asked. Mayor was looking around and saw a window was broken on the third floor of a building meeting up with the broken street. He smiled and tapped Isabelle's shoulder.

"There." He said pointing to the window. "We go through the building and climb the stairs getting to that window. We get out and continue on our way." Mayor said. Isabelle smiled and nodded.

"Yes, sir. I'm ready when you are." Isabelle said. Mayor opened the creaky door to the inside of the building with the broken window. The entire inside was dark. Mayor clicked the flashlight on the shoulder strap on his backpack on and looked around. The place was empty. "It's empty, sir." Isabelle said.

"This is only the lobby, Isabelle. We still have two floors to go until we reach that window." Mayor said. They continued moving in, cautiously as the sound of dripping water echoed through the building. Every step they made the floorboards creaked in response. Mayor and Isabelle found the staircase in the back. The staircase was concrete making the whole place incapable of light entering with closed doors. Isabelle and Mayor moved up the staircase to the third floor. Each footstep echoing as they moved up. Mayor cautiously opened the door and turned to see if the hallway was clear. Nothing was there but Mayor kept getting a creeping feeling that the two of them were not alone.

"Move in. Slow. It feels like something's here." Mayor said. He kept the gun held up. Mayor stopped for a second after hearing an offbeat set of noises amongst their footsteps. He put a hand in front of Isabelle and stopped. "Hold up." He said.

"What's wrong?" Isabelle asked. She listened into the sounds and heard the noises. It sounded like grumbling and shambled steps. "Mayor. I hear it." She said.

Mayor nodded. "I know. I hear it, too. We're gonna keep moving. Stay close. No wandering off for any reason whatsoever." He said. Mayor lead the Isabelle to a doorway before stopping and peeking in. Nothing. He switched over to the other side of the hall and peeked in this doorway. Nothing. "Where is it?" Mayor asked himself. He kept this up until he saw a shadow inside one door. He put Isabelle against the wall and stood in front of her. Mayor took a breath and jumped out in front of the doorway. All that was in there was a couple of soldier bodies. Mayor shook his head. "Where is everything?" Mayor asked. He stepped in cautiously slightly lowering his gun. Isabelle followed suite keeping an eye on her surroundings.

"What happened here?" Isabelle asked. She saw the bodies of the soldiers fallen on the ground and laying back on the wall. Mayor got close to one and moved the head a bit. He checked the pulse. Nothing at all. He looked at the large mark on the neck of the body. A large portion of the soldiers skin had been bitten off. Mayor breathed out and dropped his head rubbing his eyes. "They were killed, weren't they?" Isabelle asked. Mayor nodded.

"Yeah. And by the looks of it all too recently, as well." Mayor searched the body of the one in front of him. He pulled out a couple bullets and grabbed a flare. He looked on the shoulder of the soldier. A knife. He pulled it off and out of its sheath. Mayor inspected the blade and nodded. "Yeah. This'll do." Mayor said. He sheathed it again.

"That'll do? For what, Mister Mayor?" Isabelle asked. Mayor turned himself and pointed the knife at her by the handle. Isabelle was surprised and stared at the handle.

"Take it." Mayor said. Isabelle slowly reached her hand out and grabbed the knife. Mayor put a hand on hers. "This may sound extreme but if the time ever comes where you need to use this, never hesitate." He finished. Isabelle nodded her head.

"Y-yes, sir." She said. Mayor strapped the knife to her backpacks shoulder strap. He smiled when he finished and ruffled Isabelle's hair.

"With luck you won't need it much." Mayor said. He looked away back at the body and closed his eyes. He sighed and closed the dead soldiers eyes as well. "Rest in Peace." He said. Mayor stood. "Let's keep moving." He finished. They left the room and continued on thier way down the dark and dripping hallways.

"How long until we reach the window?" Isabelle asked. Mayor was about to respond when the office door next to him cracked and fell from the force of an infected throwing itself at the door. It looked up at Mayor as he pulled out his pistol. He shot the infected person. Suddenly the whole building came alive with the screams of the undead. Mayor grabbed Isabelle's hand and started to run down the hallway.

"Look for the window! Left side offices!" Mayor said. The two searched vigorously through the offices in the hallway. Isabelle made it to the very last room and saw the broken window.

"Sir, over here!" Isabelle called to Mayor. He pulled his head out of the room he was in and ran over.

"Good. Go now!" Mayor said. Loud footsteps banged against the floor towards them. Mayor looked over and saw at the end of the hallway a small group of infected running towards them. Isabelle ran in and out the window with Mayor following making shots, aiming the best he can only killing two of the infected following them. Mayor and Isabelle made it to the end of the broken piece of asphalt to a drop off into flooded streets.

"Mayor! What do we do?" Isabelle asked. Mayor looked around and saw no other safe way to go as the infected got closer and closer.

"We jump, Isabelle!" He said. He made sure Isabelle jumped before him and the two fell into the water below. Mayor and Isabelle got a few steps out into the street before hearing splashing behind them. They quickly turned to see the infected just dropping in the water. Mayor turned and reloaded his pistol as quickly as he could. He aimed up at the now slow moving infected and shot as well as he could. Dropping three more Mayor and Isabelle escaped the flooded streets and got to dry land climbing on to a low hanging balcony. The two stopped a moment to catch their breath. Mayor looked over at the two infected left who were having trouble in the currents of the water and started to chuckle. His chuckle broke out into a hysterical laugh. "Ha Ha Ha! Woo! Made it!" He said looking over at the remaining two infected.

Isabelle looked over at Mayor, smiling at his active joy of surviving a deadly situation. "That was intense, sir." Isabelle said. Mayor was almost dancing as he was pacing around his little spot.

"That'll show them to mess with us again. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh uh-huh-uh-huh." Mayor said starting to dance a little. He stopped and kept regaining his breath. Mayor smiled turning to look at Isabelle. She was chuckling at him a bit. "What. It's appropriate." He said with a smile. Mayor took a step and was thrown into the balcony when an infected tackled him shoving Mayors pistol out of his unbuttoned holster. Isabelle screamed when she saw it come into view. Mayor pushed it back enough to put a hand on it's chin to keep it from biting him. "Isabelle!" Mayor yelled. "Get it off!" He yelled again. Isabelle struggled to get the knife out of it's sheath. Mayors grip on the infected started to loosen as the creature tried to bite at Mayor releasing spit to drip down its chin. The creature got closer and closer to Mayors neck the chomping noise of its teeth growing louder in his ear. Mayor was about to let go when Isabelle yelled and shoved the knife she had into the neck of it. The zombie fell off Mayor and dropped onto the ground.

Isabelle fell back into a sitting a position and scooted away from the dying creature as Mayor supported himself on his legs choking and gasping for breath. Isabelle started to weep and hold her face in her hands. Mayor looked over at the now dead corpse. He stood and went over to the body. He pulled the knife from its neck and wiped it off using his pants. Mayor brought it with him and sat down next to Isabelle. "Hey. Hey calm down." Mayor said putting the knife on the other side of him. Isabelle raised her head from her paw hands and looked at Mayor. "I know it hurts. It's not something you're used to. It's scary." Mayor said. Isabelles cheeks were red from the embarrassment of letting Mayor see her like this. Scared, crying and vulnerable.

"I-it was scary." Isabelle said through crying breaths. Mayor nodded. He wrapped his arms around her to hold her in a hug.

"Was it hard?" Mayor asked. Isabelle shook her head burying it in his chest.

"I-it's scary how easy it was. I-it bled so much. S-some got on me." Isabelle cried. Mayor ran his hands through her hair petting her trying to calm her down.

"I know... I know." Mayor sat there with Isabelle letting her get some time to collect herself. Eventually her crying started getting softer and Mayor lifted the weeping Isabelle off of him a bit to get a glimpse of her face. The fur on her face was wettened down as well as his sweatervest and she could now take breaths through her mouth without bursting into tears again.

"How're we gonna survive out here?" Isabelle asked. Mayor put a hand under her chin and lifted her head so her vision focused on him.

"Very carefully. I'll protect you as much as I possibly can, Isabelle, but this is why I gave you the knife. We'll be on this trip for almost a month and we'll face situations like this a lot more than just now." Mayor said. Isabelle's tears slowed as she stared at him. "I know it hurts. I know it's scary. But we need to learn to protect ourselves as well as others. I'll do my best though to keep you safe." Mayor said. He hugged her once more and she laid there, her hands tucked into his arms and placed on his chest. Isabelle smiled a bit and nodded.

"Ok, Mister Mayor. I understand." She said. Mayor loosened his grip and looked at her. Isabelle returned his gaze with a smile. "And since you'll be trying as best as you can I will too." She said. Mayor grinned and stood helping up the now calm dog girl. "Where to?" She asked wiping her tears from her cheeks.

"The checkpoint should be just beyond the city. We keep walking and we should hit its limits by nightfall." Mayor said. Isabelle nodded and grabbed Mayors hand.

"If that's the case then let's go." Isabelle and Mayor stepped into the building that held on to the balcony and walked through the city for hours on end. Come nightfall the two made it to the end of the city and out of the flooded streets. Mayor saw a small gas station and brought Isabelle inside for the night. She sighed and sat back in a chair behind the counter. Mayor sat down on the counter itself. "Today was extremely stressful, sir." Isabelle said.

Mayor nodded and stretched. "I know but think of it like this. In less than two weeks we'll be there at the checkpoint, finishing our mission and heading back home." Mayor said. He laid down and looked back at the girl. "You can get some rest and life will go back to normal. er as normal as it can get." He finished. Isabelle nodded.

"I know what you mean. After today I feel some thing's might be different." Isabelle said leaning to the side of her chair.

"It shouldn't change you though. You've only known how to be happy for years, Isabelle. That's who you are and nothing can change that so don't let it. At least not for the worst" Mayor said. Isabelle looked at Mayor who was staring up at the sky through a hole in the roof of the building.

"Mister Mayor?" Isabelle said to get his attention. Mayor turned his head slightly and his eyes fell over to her.

"Yes, Isabelle?" He answered. Isabelle's cheeks went red and she looked away from Mayor with a nervous smile and closed eyes.

"Gahahaha. Nothing. I didn't mean to disturb you while you were trying to sleep. Goodnight, sir." She said quickly, in a hurried tone. She started to fake snore and Mayor shrugged. he leaned his head back up and returned his gaze to the night sky. he soon fell asleep and Isabelle looked over at him once more before truly falling asleep too.


	3. Chapter 3

**(Hello viewers. First I want to say something. I'm sorry. This chapter is smaller than the others and probably a bit less well worked but to be completely honest I had major troubles writing it as well so I want you to know that I want you to know that the next chapter is going to be better. Hopefully. Anyway please enjoy.)**

"Isabelle!" Mayor yelled as he ran through the halls of a building. "Isabelle where are you?!" He continued. Mayor stopped in the middle of a circular room looking around. He heard the groaning of infected from one room and screams coming from the one next to it. Mayor quickly ran into the room. The wind clasping his head and his hair bouncing with every hard stride he made. Mayors face was shining with sweat as he got to the balcony looking over another circular room. No one was there. He turned to continue looking until he heard the screams run into the room. Mayor returned his gaze to see Isabelle being chased by infected. Mayor looked to his right to see the broken railing drop off. Mayor slid down on the ground falling to the room below.

Mayor jumped in between Isabelle and the infected chasing her pulling out his gun. Mayor shot dropping the two zombies. his breath heavy Mayor returned his gaze to Isabelle. She stood there with a blank and sleepy expression. "Isabelle. Are you ok." Mayor asked. Her side started to slowly bleed. Mayor stood horrified and quickly jogged over to her. "Isabelle. Please no!" Mayor said. Isabelle dropped into his hands slowly closing her eyes. She reached a hand up and placed it on his cheek

"Mayor. You have to succeed." She said. Isabelle closed her eyes and the hand she had placed on his cheek fell. Mayors eyes filled with tears.

He grabbed her hand and leaned over her. "No..." He whispered to himself. Mayor started to rock back and forth on his knees crying. "No... Isabelle please, no..." Mayors tone raised as he spoke. "I've failed. I've failed, I've failed." He went back into a whisper. "There's so many things that I wanted to tell you." Footsteps slowly walked into the room. Mayor picked his head up and slowly looked back at the sound. A new infected had stepped in. Mayor softly put Isabelle down. He stood up and let his grip on her hand go. Her paw hand slipped out of his palm and Mayor reached for his pistol. He grabbed it and quickly turned to the infected. "You bastards... You killed her." Mayor said through tear jerked breaths. "I'll make sure every one of you dies!" Mayor yelled. He shot the zombie dead. A loud scream came from every hall around him.

Mayor slowly reached for the knife in Isabelle's sheath. He pulled it out and glanced at the halls where infected charged from each angle. "You want to play impossible?" He asked. Mayor got into a stance. "Then let's play." He said. Mayor stabbed at more zombies that got close and shot at ones that seemed like it was too far. One infected knocked the gun out of Mayors hand so he continued to stab at those who got close.

"Mayor!" A voice called. Mayor looked up at the balcony to see a crying Isabelle. She was weeping leaning over the balcony, reaching for him. "Mayor, get out of there!" She yelled with tears rolling down her eyes. Mayor looked around and tried to escape the infected horde. He tried climbing up rocks but got grabbed and yanked to the floor by one infected. They crowded his vision until nothing was there but complete darkness.

Mayor woke up gasping in a fret, his head sweating and his palms shaking. Isabelle was standing there next to him looking worried. "Mayor, Mayor! Oh Mod! Are you ok? You were shaking and crying in your sleep." isabelle said. Mayor looked at his hands then looked over inspecting Isabelle. He sighed with relief and laid back down. Mayors breaths were heavy and his chest rose sharply with each breath. He looked around and finally sat up. He took one deep breath, Isabelle watching scared. He stood and finally stretched before taking a drink of water that was dripping through part of the ceiling. "Mayor?' Isabelle asked again. He looked over at her shaking his hands dry.

"Y-yeah. Yeah I'm fine, Isabelle. Thanks for worrying about me but I'm fine." Mayor finally said. He pulled out his gun and checked the ammo he had in it. Mayor put his bag down and pulled more rounds out. He put six in the gun and the rest in his pocket. Isabelle watched worried at the Mayor. She didn't know what but she knew something was wrong. She could tell just by the look of the Mayor. His shaky response and wary attitude both stuck out to her like a sore thumb.

Mayor and Isabelle left the gas station and continued on their way into the limits of the city and out into the trail. Another forest came in as they passed. Shadows of leaves were on the dirt trail. Mayor kept his eyes open and shifting from side to side with just about every step. Mayor heard cracks in the leaves and sticks around him. Isabelle shared the same reaction upon hearing the sounds. Her eyes shifted from side to side when she heard the noises. "Mayor what is that?" Isabelle asked. Mayor looked around to see if he could spot anything but nothing looked out of the ordinary.

"I don't know. Keep an eye out. We don't waAAUGGH!" Mayor yelled as a rope trap dragged him up to the side of a tree. Isabelle yelped fell back when she saw him suddenly just fly up. Mayor looked down or up at his foot to see the rope. He sighed when he did. Sturdy thick rope. "Isabelle. Give me your knife." Mayor said. Isabelle unbuttoned the knife, unsheathed it and handed it to Mayor who quickly started trying to cut it.

"Hold it right there!" A man yelled. Mayor looked away from the knife for a moment and saw a man holding a rifle up to Isabelle and him. Isabelle raised her hands. Mayor slowly and cautiously dropped the knife.

"We don't want any harm. We're just trying to be on our way." he said. The man went up to Mayor and cut him down dropping him on his head. Mayor stood up slowly and got shoved into a tree by a second guy.

"Don't make a move or I blow your brains out like confetti." This man said holding a pistol to Mayors head.

"Get off me." He refuted. The first man looked over at Isabelle and chuckled.

"What's a cute thing like you doing all the way out here with this weak looking guy?" The first man asked. He started to rhythmically walk over to her.

"I... I follow him." She said nervously. The man walked around in a circle inspecting her. Isabelle closed her eyes to keep from seeing the man's face.

"You follow him, huh? I wonder why. You should stay with us. It's better than going anywhere else with him." The man said placing a hand on her side. Isabelle squeaked with an embarrassed blush. She opened one eye and looked at the Mayor who was now struggling against the guy who was holding him.

"Leave her alone. Get your hands off of her." Mayor said. The man holding Mayor bat him once in the head with his gun. A cut had opened on Mayors head above his eyebrow. He opened his eye and looked over at Isabelle again.

"P-please don't hurt him." Isabelle squeaked. The man chuckled maniacally.

"Oh don't worry. Come with us, stay with us and we'll let him go. Simple offer." The man said. Isabelle looked over at Mayor.

"Isabelle, don't do it. It's not worth it! Just let them beat me." Mayor said. The man near Isabelle looked over at Mayor. He nodded and Mayor got kicked in the back of the legs making him knee the tree. Mayor started to fall a bit but was still held up by the man. Isabelle gasped and reached out to try and move but the man next to her grabbed her hand.

"Now see. That's not something I'd recommend. No one ever seems to survive our beatings even though we try and try every time to hold back." The man holding Mayor said sarcastically.

"Now, what do you say, cute pup?" The man said. Isabelle looked at Mayor who was now struggling to stand and back at the man. Isabelle made a scowling face and nodded.

"I'll go with you. But you must let him go." Isabelle said. Mayor looked back at her in shock at what she said. He struggled more and more now. The man holding Mayor punched him in the side. Mayor was forced to the ground where his unbuttoned holster dropped the pistol.

"We'll let him go. When he earns it." The man near Isabelle said. Isabelle looked at the man with scared big eyes. "You see, where we come from there is this competition where people put their daily catches in a field to fight to the death against zombies and other people." The man said.

"You're gladiator slavers." Mayor said. The man looked over at him.

"There's the word. Ten points goes to Sweatervest." The man said getting closer to Mayor. "That's why we're trying not to rough you up too bad. You're all the way out here at least a days travel from any town so you obviously have some sort of survival, fighting or even zombie killing experience. " The man said getting close to Mayors face. "Maybe even experience to kill others to save your own skin." He backed away from the Mayor. "Though if you don't comply we can always just kill you and go find another person, sweatervest."

Mayors breathing had gotten heavy from anger. He looked over at Isabelle who looked at him worried then back at the man. "Honestly? I'd rather you shoot me. But in honor of Isabelle's deal, I'll do it. I'll fight in your damned arena." The man shook his torso in a festive manner.

"Yeah, see? Better. Accepting your imminent death and or victory with some dignity." He said. "If you survive we'll turn you loose and you can leave but this one." The man grabbed Isabelle and pulled her closer by the waist. Isabelle looked away from the man. "She stays with us." Isabelle's face held sorrow and fear. She looked down and felt unable to look Mayor in the eye. She may have give him a chance but she instead feels like she also sent him to the most brutal death anyone can ask for. The man holding Mayor threw a bag over his head and tied his hands together. He brought the struggling Mayor to a truck where he was thrown in the back. The man near Isabelle grabbed Mayors pistol and put it up in the truck. Isabelle was told to get in the back seat of the cab. She followed instruction and soon the group of enemies drove away.

Driving for what felt like hours the truck finally stopped and Mayor was grabbed and dragged by the legs out of the bed of it. Soon after he was stood up and walked into a room where the faint cheers of people were heard. As soon as he heard this Mayor was thrown to the floor. His hands were cut loose and the bag was removed. He slowly dragged his head from his vision on the floor up to man wearing shoulder armor and a makeshift helmet. He grabbed Mayor by the chest and picked him up. "Stand!" He said.

Mayor stiffened his legs and stood. "Good. Look around the armory and find your weapon." The man said. Mayor looked at him confused. "Well?" The man asked. "Don't you want to survive?"

"Why does it matter to you?" Mayor asked putting a shoulder piece on.

"Reasons. Reasons that don't matter to you. Just grab your shit and get ready. The fights gonna start soon." The man said. Mayor was confused by this man.

Mayor turned his attention back to the weapons. Swords. Knives. Old pipes. All of these things. Nothing Mayor knew how to use well. He grabbed what looked to be an old broken metal sign with a sharp edge on it sign part. It looked awful similar to an axe and thus to Mayor is the best weapon for him. Mayor looked back at the man. "Where do I go to start?" Mayor asked.

The man looked at him angrily and pointed to an open hallway. "Down there. Now hurry. The fights about to begin." He said. Mayor slowly walked down the hall. He was scared. His mind started to ache at the thoughts that had flooded him. This seemed a lot like the hallway in his dream. Long and scary. Mayor started to jog down it keeping a tight grip on the post of the sign. He gulped as he jogged, worrying mainly about Isabelle. He got to a barred door at the end of the hall and stopped just before it.

"Ladies and gentleman! Welcome again to Raiders Rumble!" A man yelled the crowd in the large circular arena started to cheer. The door opened. "Today we have six fighters against each other today! But we're gonna see how they fare against the undead before they fight each other!" Mayor stepped in slowly. The crowd started to yell and boo as he looked around. He looked up into the crowd and saw Isabelle her original clothes now torn and replaced with what looked like slave rags. Mayors face went red but he felt anger at them forcing her to do this. "First round!" The announcer yelled. A large gate opened and out flooded at least twelve infected.

The dozen rushed at Mayor who ducked under their drawn and unthought out grabs. Mayor slipped and landed on his back. He started to get up and saw one with a fungus on it's face break the head into two. "OH! The clicker almost got him!" The announcer shouted as Mayor rolled out of the way. He stood and held his sign tight.

"_I've got no choice. Just surviving won't do here. I have to kill these things. No more running."_

Mayor pulled back and swung his sign. The sharp edge hacked the head of the clicker nearly off. The creature dropped to the ground. Mayor turned and saw the rest of the infected charging. Mayor twirled the sign once and started to swing away. Most of the hits at least knocked the fungus ridden zombies back but in his first go he axed two heads off. He shoved the sign into the side of one making it take a step back and notice what had just happened to it. Mayor punched another one back to give himself some space and yanked the sign out, swinging it back into the cheek bone of another zombie. The eight remaining zombies charged Mayor he ran trying to keep distance until her think of a plan. He saw that the walls of the arena were revealing buttonlike circles and pressed one as he ran by to see if they did anything. Nothing at first until Mayor saw some of the sand in the arena drop to reveal metal tubes. He stopped off the tubes. four zombies ran into them and just before they grabbed him were lit up as the tubes spit out fire. Mayor fell back the radiating heat of the fire warmed his face from the chill of his sweat. Mayor fell back his face now steaming from the evaporating sweat.

He stood up and looked at Isabelle in the crowds. She was crying, her cheeks drenched with tears. "Mayor! Mayor get out of there!" She yelled. Mayors stance dropped as he saw this. He shook his head and looked ahead at the living dead who survived the zombie roast. He held the sign tightly and charged the dead.


	4. Chapter 4

**(Dear viewers. Thank you for the patience. I worked on this chapter extra hard which is why it took so long. I accept any constructive criticism so if you have any please do it in the comments and reviews. Thank you and enjoy.)**

"What do you mean Mayor can't see me?! I'm his best friend!" Sheldon the squirrel exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, Sheldon. I wish there was something I can do but due to recent events Mayor has asked us to make sure no appointments rise." Copper said. "Which means you can either tell us the problem so we can sort it out or you deal with it yourself." Copper finished, now crossing his arms.

"Hmph. You're mean, Mister Copper. Cardio. Besides, isn't it Isabelle who works out that schedule of Mayors?" Sheldon said.

"Yes but she has joined him in the endeavor meaning neither of them can be disturbed." Booker said. "I understand you're angry, Sheldon, but pouting and obtaining an attitude isn't going to fix it. Usually we're rather lenient but again this is a direct order. There's nothing we can do except follow it." Booker finished putting a hand on Sheldons shoulder.

Sheldon sighed. "I guess you're right, Mister Booker. I'm sorry for getting angry. Cardio. Just tell Mayor I said hi." Sheldon said. He turned and left turning behind the left side of town hall and out of sight.

"Finally. After all that yelling of his it's great to get some peace and quiet." Copper said yawning.

"You're not usually like this Copper. I mean usually you're protect and serve. Even in these times you've clung to that idea. Are you sure you're not tired?" Booker asked. Copper nodded.

"Of course I'm sure. Look, I know sleep is important but so is the safety of the people. If we let it get out that Mayor has gone beyond the gate chaos could take place. Then we would not only have failed Mister Mayor but the town as well." Copper said.

From behind the corner of the town hall building Sheldon had strained his ears to listen. "Beyond the gate?" He whispered to himself.

**XXXX**

Mayor ducked and rolled under a large man trying to grab him. He had advanced past the zombie rounds and now faced other people who were caught outside by these raiders. All were given different miscellaneous items that could double as weapons. Like Mayor who was given a bent sign to use as an axe like thing. Mayor stood and slashed his sign against the mans uncovered back. He kicked him further away to keep from having to deal with it for much longer without regaining some energy.

"Step away, man. I don't want to do this to you." Mayor said. This mans speech was unintelligible. He charged Mayor yelling and screaming each time. Mayor flinched and scurried out of the way continuing to keep from getting hit but cutting the back of the man every other time. Sweat dripped from Mayors brow. He had kept this up for a small while already, activating heat traps and dodging those who attacked him. Mayor was obviously wearing himself out from trying to get through to this larger individual.

"Let him out of there! He's earned his survival. He's killed enough of those infected parasites!" Isabelle yelled grabbing on to one of the men as a way to get their attention. She was pushed back and on to the floor.

"Ah whatever, bitch. Leave us to our fun." One said. She looked down at Mayor who was still dodging and slicing at the large man who wailed in pain with each attack. Mayor eventually had enough and started to get brave. He cut down the arms of the large man, his sweat dripping into the open wound. Eventually the large man bled out and fell over from the lose of blood. It tried to crawl over to Mayor once more before just falling. Shadow covered the eyes of Mayor who stared at the now lifeless body. The crowd cheered as the large mad man fell over.

"Ladies and gentlemen, look at that! The rookie junkyard dog has been doing good so far! Let's put him against something a little more challenging! But don't worry, kid. We'll be fair and give you a weapon but you need to decide her. Who's worth while to shoot more? A crowd of people all ready to take your life or this!" The announcer opened a new gate. A rhythmic thud shook the ground as a bloated infected stepped out from the shadows. Mayor looked up and inspected further. The fungus overtook the body of this creature. It was huge and seemed to be growing more mushrooms than any he's ever seen. Mayor stepped back and looked over at the announcer. "Here you go!" The man tossed a pistol down to Mayor who grabbed it and aimed. As he was aiming the large beast pulled a fungus pod from it's chest and threw it. Mayor saw the pod airborne and ducked under it. The pod burst behind him and spores burst from it falling to the floor. Mayor looked back at the beast. It roared a mighty roar.

Mayor pulled up his pistol and started to try and shoot the creature. it started to walk over with an angry noise almost seeming unfazed by the bullets. Mayor kept shooting. Eventually he ran out of rounds. He holstered the pistol and picked up the sign again. Mayor swiped at the large infected trying to cut through it's thick layer of mushroom spores and pods. The large beast grabbed Mayor and lifted him up. It brought him closer to it's mouth and started to try and bite him. Mayor put his feet on the chest of the monster and tried to keep it from pulling him closer.

**XXXX**

Copper woke up hearing the faint sounds of people talking loudly in the distance. Booker was looking around and grabbed his weapon. "We should go see what the commotion is." Booker said. Copper yawned and stretched standing up. He grabbed his weapon as well and followed Booker who had started walking to the noise. The citizens were gathered around the bulletin board talking over each other.

"Mr. Mayor is gone? Out the gate?" Apollo questioned.

"How did he get out without us noticing?" Opal asked.

"What is he doing out there?!" Blathers blurted.

"Hold it!" Copper yelled. The crowd looked over at him calming down a bit and Copper stepped into the middle with Booker. "Who told you that the mayor was gone?" Copper asked.

"No one did. It was on the bulletin board this morning when I came to check it." Apollo said.

Copper looked at Booker. "The only villager that might've had the slightest idea that Mayor is gone would be Sheldon." Booker said. Copper nodded in agreement.

"Right. We need to find him and bring him in for questioning." Copper said. He looked back at the villagers. "Everyone! Listen. If you find Sheldon, report him immediately to the police office. Until then all word will remain quiet!" Copper said. The crowd started to separate. Copper shook his head and him and Booker walked back to the town hall front doors. Inside they heard shuffling and things falling. Copper put his ear to the door and listened.

"So that's why he's out there." A male voice said inside. Copper picked his weapon up and pointed to the door Booker got ready too. Copper quickly opened the door and stepped in raising his gun.

"On the ground, now!" Copper said. It was Sheldon with a light in his mouth. Sheldons reaction was just to drop the light. Copper walked over and grabbed one of Sheldon's arms. Throwing it behind him Copper arrested Sheldon and sat him down in a chair inside the town hall. Booker grabbed two seats and gave one to Copper.

"Sheldon. We have a question for you." Booker said.

"And that would be?" Sheldon asked.

"You released information about the mayors leave didn't you?!" Copper yelled. Booker pulled Copper back down to his seat again.

"You are under suspicion for the release of secret information. We need to know if you did it or not. We expect the truth. Did you release info on Mayor being gone?" Booker asked. Sheldon shook his head.

"No." Sheldon simply said.

"Are you sure?" Booker asked again.

"Yeah. I know Mayor. He's a big boy and he can do stuff in secret if he wants and usually something as big as this he has reasons to keep it secret. I just wanted to know where he was going." Sheldon said.

"Are you aware that someone posted a notice on the bulletin board that the mayor had left town?" Booker asked.

"No. I've been spending most all my day trying to find a way in before I remembered me and Mayor created a secret entrance to the building. Once I remembered I just walked on in." Sheldon said. Booker thought but Copper was getting impatient.

"If you didn't post that message on the bulletin board then who dhid?" Copper asked. Sheldon simply shrugged.

"Like I said. I don't know. I just spent most all my day just trying to get inside." Sheldon said. "Whenever Mayor leaves he leaves behind a note for me hidden in his desk." Sheldon looked over at the sticky note pad that he dropped with the flashlight when Copper entered. "There, see?" Booker stepped over to it while Copper kept an eye on sheldon. He picked it up and read.

"Dear sheldon. Knowing you probably figured out I'm out of town right now I have left this note to inform that I left to go restart a train junction. I'll be back within the month. Your best friend, Mayor." Booker said. Copper looked at him. "I guess he's telling the truth. uncuff him. This note was left behind for him so it's his right to recover it." Booker said. Copper growled as he uncuffed him. Booker was getting worried about Copper but dismissed his attitude for the moment. Booker let Sheldon leave and decided it was time to confront Copper from what he's noticed. "Copper, we need to talk." Booker said. Copper looked at him confused.

**XXXX**

Mayor was getting pulled with immense force making him feel like his legs were gonna break if this kept up. Mayor thought swiftly and looked around. He saw the sign in his hand pulled it back. He shoved the handle of the sign into the large creatures throat. It's shrieks of pain gurgled as blood started to pour from its mouth. It let go of Mayor and tried to get the sign out. To no avail it fell over dead letting the sign push through more of it's skin, pushing through the layer of spore armor and popping out the other side of its neck. Mayor sat there near the now dead beast. He looked at the crowd, all shocked at what they had just witnessed. The crowd of raiders started to cheer, some boo from the lack of death of a person. Mayor stood up and looked at Isabelle who was talking to one of the two men.

"He should be allowed to leave." Isabelle said looking down at Mayor in the arena. "He's earned it. He killed large people and large monsters. I think it's time you held up your end of the deal." Isabelle said. The man joined her gaze and nodded.

"Yeah. I guess you're right. He did earn his leave. Alright. We'll let the announcer finish then he can go." The man said. Isabelle sighed with relief. She didn't expect this conversation to go so well.

Mayor grabbed the sign from the head of the bloated infected and raised it. The crowd roared once again.

Mayor was given his bag and items back. Even his pistol, although the rounds had been taken out. He was pushed through the front gate and told to leave. Mayor walked down and out of sight before dropping to his knees. He needed to devise a plan. "Isabelle." He said. "She doesn't belong in a place like that." Mayor shook his head. "I have to think. Come on, think." Mayor finished now batting his head. He looked around the wooded area and saw a dead infected laying against a tree. It's head cut open by what looked like... No. It couldn't be. An axe? Mayor got closer and looked at the thing. It looked like an axe with a large circle in the middle. He pressed the circle and in doing so he noticed that the handle went limp. This was no ordinary axe.

"A collapsable hatchet?" Mayor said. He pried the hatchet out of the dead infected head and looked at it. "This... This could work, I can use this." Mayor said happily. He looked around and found two more with the sheath laying in the dead bodies hand. He strapped on the sheath, inserted the hatchets and continued to look around. He needed something, anything right now. He couldn't charge a raider camp alone and if he did he'd need serious firepower which would be an extremely forgiving word for the amount of weapons he had on him. Mayor walked deeper into the forest and saw nothing until a deer ran past his path. Mayor was a bit frustrated that this creature almost hit him but looked past that when he saw a lone truck sitting in the wild. A path way under it he was surprised it was left. Mayor slowly and cautiously approached it holding one of his new found hatchets ready. He placed his back to the door and replaced the hatchet with the pistol. He loaded it up and got ready.

Mayor hopped up and pointed his gun into the empty cab of the truck. No one? "I wonder why this thing was left here. It seems fine." He said. Mayor looked around the truck and finally got to the back. What he saw shocked him a bit. What he assumed was the driver was propped up dead with a large bite on his neck against the tailgate. Mayor lightly tapped him with his foot and the body fell over. He then wondered to himself was so important about this truck? He opened the tailgate and lifted the tarp on the back to see large crates of TNT and other types of explosives, but mainly just sticks of TNT. Mayor smiled. He just found his solution. His way to get Isabelle back. He put the tarp back on the TNT and grabbed the lighting sticks he had in his backpack. Mayor grinned at this. Although he didn't particularly like performing acts that puts others in danger he didn't have a choice.

Mayor quickly looked around and took the keys from one of the dead raiders' pockets. He got in the truck, prayed that it would turn on and started it up. Mayor drove down the path the truck was already on and got his bearings to find the raider base again. Stopping just a mile down the path from the base Mayor grabbed one of the bandanas in the truck and wrapped it around his mouth. He pulled the jack he had in his pack out and put it on. He continued driving and stopped in front of the gate which had been closed as soon as he was pushed out the first time. One of the guardsmen looked at Mayor for a moment. To pull it off Mayor looked back with an expression that looked slightly disappointed. "Hey, jackoff. I'm trying to get inside. I got supplies of TNT in the back that I need to bring in." Mayor said. He said it in a grouchy and angry voice. The guard winced at him and nodded.

"Yeah, sure. I gotcha." He said. The guard went stepped over and opened the gate with a massive wench and Mayor drove in parking the truck next to others in a makeshift parking lot. Mayor thought for a moment. He nodded at the idea and got out of the truck. No one was around so he opened the tarp, grabbed some sticks of TNT and opened the hoods of the other five trucks in the lot. Once done sticking the TNT to the inside of the trucks near the engine and gas tank, Mayor revised and moved his truck away from the others. Before he finally walked into the building Mayor lit the sticks of TNT and then went in looking around.

"So what do you plan on doing with me?" Isabelle asked, scared and embarrassed. She somewhat knew what the answer would be but she hoped that it would be more physical labor than what she thought.

"You're gonna be like most all the other girls here." The man said. "You see. All the captured females in this base here are used to... Relieve stress from the one who chooses them." The man said. Isabelle's eyes widened with fear. The man grabbed her waist and pulled her into an empty room. "Now you know there's no getting away from this." The man whispered in her ear. "Tell me how-" He was interrupted when a masked raider entered the room.

"You're an idiot." The raider said.

"What?" The man wondered. "What do you mean?" He continued.

"The guards are wanting you. Something about fcking up safety protocals? You gave a released captured back their gun? Are you insane? What's to stop him from coming back here and at least killing the two guards?" The raider asked. The man near Isabelle was about to refute before he stopped and thought. He sighed and dropped the hand he was about to use to point out something.

"Fine. I'll go deal with it." The man said. He looked at Isabelle. "I'll be back for you, cute pup. I expect you on the bed when I do come back." The man finished before leaving. Isabelle started to weep.

"Oh... What am I gonna do?" She asked. The masked raider was still in the room with a now puzzled look, raising a brow. "I left my Mayor and now I'm stuck here. If he comes back for me he'll die and if he doesn't then I'm gonna be... alone here." The masked raider grabbed her arm and pulled her up.

"Sometimes alone isn't an option." The masked raider said. "Now come on. We need to get you out of here before he comes back." He said. Isabelle was confused still somewhat crying but keeping her head enough to move with him. "We don't have much time." He said.

"Who are you? What are you doing?" Isabelle asked. The raider kept moving her quickly until they got to the parking lot. He grabbed the truck closest to the gate and opened the door.

"Get in!" He exclaimed. Isabelle followed direction and entered the cab of the truck. The man got in and started it. He drove to the back of the gate and opened it himself. The raider got back in and put his foot to the very floor of the truck with the gas peddle underneath. The truck revved and rode out of the place quickly. Mayor pulled down his raider bandana and whooped loudly with excitement. "Wooo Hooo!" He yelled. Isabelle flinched when he yelled and was surprised but happy to see Mayor sitting next to her.

"You came back!" Isabelle yelled hugging the Mayor. She was so happy and joyful that he went and got her.

Mayor pet her head and smiled. "Of course. Anything for my amazing assistant." Mayor said. A huge explosion was heard behind them and Isabelle looked through the back window. The base went up in flames, a large black cloud erupting from where it once stood.

"Mayor? What happened?" Isabelle asked.

"I uhh... I blew up their trucks. I didn't want anyone following us. If they did they'd kill us both. That plus it keeps them too busy to worry about looking for you at the moment." Mayor said. He flashed a smile at Isabelle. "Last thing I want is for you to re-end up in that hell hole again." Mayor said. Isabelle turned her attention from the large black cloud and looked at Mayor a bit surprised. She didn't expect this from him but it seems he was determined. Isabelle laid her head down on to Mayor's shoulder and smiled.

"thank you for coming back for me, Mr. Mayor." Isabelle said softly with red cheeks.

"Of course, Isabelle." Mayor said softly back. "With this truck and the gas in it we should be able to advance our schedule past where we were stopped at by maybe a day or two." Mayor said. He looked at Isabelle who had fallen asleep on his shoulder and smiled. Mayor looked back on the path and drove in the direction of the path headed towards the junction.


	5. Chapter 5

Mayor kept to the road as they drove through a street of a now dead town. He wondered about how much gas the truck had. Worried about when they were gonna have to abandon the truck he checked the gas meter. It seemed to have went down all the way. The truck was still moving however. "Looks like we're running on vapors. We'll have to get out sooner than we'll be safe if this keeps up." Mayor said to himself. Isabelle was still on his shoulder asleep. The sun was starting to set and the darkness was setting in. Mayor worried more as this was the time that the infected seem to get more active. Mayor sighed as they drove. He finally stopped in the middle of a suburban street. He pushed the gas down multiple times but he couldn't get the engine to rev. Mayor looked around in the mirrors. No sign of movement so he wondered if it would be safe to get into one of the houses for the night and search for gas in the morning. Mayor lightly shook her and Isabelle slowly blinked awake.

"Huh?" Isabelle asked. She looked at Mayor whom was smiling at her. Isabelle smiled back with a little bit of drool on the side of her mouth. "Good morning, Mr. Mayor." She said. Mayor chuckled at the sleepy dog girl.

"The sun just set, Isabelle. Come on. We're in the middle of a suburb and I think we can find a place to stay for the night." Mayor said. Isabelle wiped her mouth and sat up still a bit sleepy.

"Ok, sir." She said. Mayor got out of the truck, went over, opened Isabelle's door and let her out. "Sir?" Isabelle said.

"Yes, Isabelle?" Mayor responded.

"Do you mind if I sleep with you? To keep safe?" She finished. Mayor chuckled.

"Yeah, sure. I guess." He said. Isabelle stepped out and at first almost fell over. Mayor helped her up into a house and into a bed. As soon as he put her down Isabelle clung to Mayors vest.

"Come on. You said you would." She said with a sleepy giggle. Mayor chuckled and went over to the other side of the bed, laying down next to her. Isabelle wrapped an arm around him and held on. She soon started to softly snore indicating her being asleep. Mayor smiled and looked at the ceiling slowly falling asleep as well.

Isabelle woke up to the sound of things falling over in the house. It sounded like pans were being taken. She leaned up, rubbed her eyes with a yawn and looked down to her side where she felt a soft but firm material under her hand. She saw Mayor laying there. Isabelle softly squeaked and back up a bit with a red face. She didn't know how she ended up in a bed with Mayor but the thought of trying to put logic together and understand why he was there fell apart as she heard the crashing again. She shook Mayor vigorously. "Sir? Sir?" She whispered. Mayor soon slowly woke. "Mr. Mayor. I think someone is here." Isabelle said.

"What?" Mayor whispered back in a sleep induced speech. The sound of things falling and shuffling in the kitchen went off again. Mayor looked around the edge of the bed for his and Isabelle's backpack. He had recovered Isabelle's pack from the room he found her and the man in and grabbed it switching it out with his empty back up pack that Mayor stored in his normal pack. He grabbed Isabelle's and unsheathed the knife. Mayor leaned up and got out of the bed. Putting his hand on the door Mayor got ready to open it. Opening the door to the kitchen quickly he looked over to see a stray dog run out the door. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh." Isabelle had followed Mayor downstairs.

"It was a dog?" Isabelle asked. Mayor chuckled and nodded. Isabelle smiled and giggled with him. The two stood there for a small bit just chuckling and giggling at their false worry. Mayor finally calmed down and Isabelle soon did afterwards as well. She looked over at the doorway to see a figure walking in. Isabelle had been drained of color at the sight. She tried to speak but couldn't.

"Isabelle?" Mayor wondered. "What's wrong?" Mayor asked. A heavy clicking sound cricked behind him. Mayor turned and was faced with a clicker. The creature threw itself at Mayor trying to bite him. Mayor dropped the knife in his hurry to grab the thing and keep it from biting him. Mayor grunted as the blind infected wanderer screeched and continued to try and bite him. Isabelle grabbed the knife and pushed it into the monsters side. It recoiled from trying to bite Mayor to get a sight or as much as it could see of it's wound. Mayor pushed it down and grabbed the knife from its side. He took Isabelle's hand and pulled her out of the kitchen closing the door and pushing a large wooden cupboard in the way.

"Mayor. What're we gonna do?" Isabelle asked scared. Mayor thought for a second. He looked out the door and started to see other infected start to step out of the houses and on to the street.

"Isabelle. Go get the bags and bring them here. We're gonna have to leave right now and find some gas for the truck." Mayor instructed. Isabelle nodded and ran up the stairs. Mayor stood by the door frame and waited for Isabelle. He could hear the footsteps of the infected walking and running down the street. Isabelle ran down the stairs with both of their backpacks, hers on her back and Mayors in her hand. She handed Mayor his bag who as soon as he got it threw it on his back. "Great. Let's go." Mayor waved her to the backyard with him. "We gotta find a way out." Mayor said. Isabelle looked around and saw a long and thick piece of wood.

"Sir. We can use that as a slant to get over the fence." Isabelle said pointing at the large piece. Mayor went over and grabbed the wood, lifting it and leaning it against the fence.

"Isabelle, go." Mayor said pulling out his pistol. One of the infected ran through the door and scanned the area until his eyes dropped to Mayor and Isabelle who started to balance and walk over the fence on the piece of wood. The infected charged Mayor who responded by letting his weapon fire. The other infected started to swarm through. Mayor looked and saw Isabelle had jumped over. He balanced and walked over the wood and once over the wood clipped it so that it fell over. Isabelle was already looking around for a way out.

"Sir. The only way we can go is through the house." Isabelle said. Mayor nodded in acknowledgement.

"Then let's go." Mayor said. He lead Isabelle into the house and into the empty, cold, and dark garage.

"What're we doing here, sir?" Isabelle asked.

"We have to find gas for the truck. Look around for any canisters. It doesn't matter how old it is we just have to get it." Mayor said. He started to rummage through the old tools and Isabelle looked around through what she thought were old bicycle parts. Going through it all Isabelle pulled out a normal sized gas canister. It seemed to have been there for a while indicating whoever had it left it behind.

"Mayor! I found one!" Isabelle exclaimed. Mayor looked at her and smiled.

"Good. let's go. I'm gonna need you to fill up the tank or watch my back Isabelle." Mayor said. They got to the front door of the house. "Choose now and stick with it." Isabelle thought the squeezed the gas canister close.

"I know how to fill a truck. I don't know how to shoot a gun." She said. Mayor nodded.

"Then I'll deal with the infected. Let's go." Mayor kicked the door in and looked around. Nothing. He waved Isabelle saying it was safe to move. Isabelle and Mayor quickly jogged to the truck. She popped the tank open and started to drain the gas from the canister and into the tank. Mayor had turned and saw the infected starting to charge at them. He shot at them trying to keep all shots aimed for the head as best he could but his hands were shaking from the intensity of the situation. Isabelle worried putting the gas in would be their end. She shook the canister once more when she felt it weigh less for good measure.

"Mayor! It's ready! Get in!" Isabelle exclaimed. Mayor waved Isabelle in as she jumped into the cab of the truck. He got in and started to turn the key. Nothing. Mayor turned it again. It started to rev but failed to start. He did this once more as the infected got closer. One climbed on to the hood and started to kick and punch at the windshield. Isabelle pushed herself back in the seat with worry. Mayor turned the key and the engine of the truck roared to life. He set the truck in drive and pressed his foot with the gas peddle to the floor board. The tires screeched as the two drove away from the hoard of the infected. The one on the windshield fell off as the two sped away. Mayor breathing heavily and Isabelle trying to recover her composure from the moment.

"Are you ok, Mayor?" Isabelle asked as soon as she recovered. Mayor stopped the truck a moment and took the key out to keep the light off and the engine from attracting more attention from the infected. He looked over at her.

"Yeah. I'm... I'm ok. How about you?" Mayor said with heavy breath. Isabelle nodded.

"Yes, I'm fine." She responded. Mayor fell back in his seat and grinned.

'Good. That's good." Mayor said. "I'm glad you're ok." He finished. Mayor finally regained his ability to breath and put the keys back into the slot of the truck.

"Sir." Isabelle put a hand on Mayors. "do you need a moment?" She asked. Mayor shook his head.

"No. We need to keep moving. It's not safe out here." Mayor said.

"Nor is it safe to overwork yourself. Come on. There's more houses around. Let's just find a place, park the truck and go to sleep for the night." Isabelle said.

"We just witnessed that it's not safe." Mayor refuted.

"In these times it's never safe to do anything. I'd rather you not die because of insomnia." Isabelle said. Mayor was about to say something back when Isabelle put a finger to his lips. "Shhh. Let's just sleep." Isabelle said. Mayor thought and sighed. She was a bit right. He didn't want either of them to die out there but if he stayed up too long he'll pass out from exhaustion and that's a bad factor he didn't want to deal with.

"You're right." He said. Mayor chose a small house and parked the truck. He turned off the truck and took the keys. Isabelle went inside and chose her bed. Mayor went past hers and chose one for himself. He laid down in his and wondered. How long would it take until they get to the checkpoint. With the truck they advance beyond their normal time and he's never thought about the time difference now. He breathed a heavy sigh and just rolled his head over to sleep. "Goodnight, Isabelle." Mayor said.

"Goodnight, Mr. Mayor." Isabelle replied. Mayor smiled as did Isabelle in their beds and both fell asleep.

Isabelle woke up the next morning and looked around. She was confused where she was. Where was Mayor? She had forgotten most of what had happened the previous night. She stretched and stood up out of her bed. She looked through her bag and found a T-shirt and pants. This outfit was purchased for her on her birthday by her brother Digby. She put her shirt and pants on then went to go find Mayor. "Mr. Mayor." Isabelle said quietly as to not wake him if he was still asleep. Isabelle opened the door to his room and saw the mayor passed out on the bed. Isabelle giggled at the sight of her usually hard working mayor so deep asleep. She walked out into the living room of the house and checked the bookshelves to see if there was anything to read. She picked out a romantic college story called "The College ruled Notebook".

She sat down and read. Mayor walked down the stairs stretching and yawning. "Good morning, Isabelle." Mayor said.

"Good morning, Sir. Sleep well?" Isabelle asked. Mayor nodded with a smile. He was wearing a different color sweatervest now and different pants. He sat down next to her and smiled looking at the book.

"I like that book." Mayor said. Isabelle turned to look at him.

"Really?" Isabelle asked interested. "So it's good?" She asked.

"Oh, yeah." Mayor responded. "I used to read it and dream that a cute girl would marry me when I was in college." Mayor chuckled.

"Sounds like a good dream." Isabelle giggled.

Mayor smiled and looked at it with her. "Mind if I read with you for the moment?" Mayor asked. Isabelle nodded and leaned on Mayor so the two could read. About an hour of reading and 3 chapters later Mayor lifted Isabelle and stretched again. "Let's get a move on. We need to keep going. Bring the book though. We can read it in the truck." Mayor said. "Or you can read out loud while I drive." Mayor finished. Isabelle giggled and stood up. The two of them left the house and Mayor started the truck. Backing out Isabelle took one last look at the house. She smiled and opened the book starting to read to Mayor as he drove.

"My Dearest Allie. I couldn't sleep last night because I know that it's over between us. I'm not bitter anymore, because I know that what we had was real. And if in some distant place in the future we see each other in our new lives, I'll smile at you with joy and remember how we spent a summer beneath the trees, learning from each other and growing in love. The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds. And that's what you've given me. That's what I'd hoped to give to you forever. I love you. I'll be seeing you. Noah." Isabelle quoted. Mayor smiled as they drove. The book brought back memories and made him smile.

Mayor eventually stopped the truck. Isabelle looked from the book at Mayor. "What's wrong?" She asked. Mayor kept pushing the pedal and the truck would not rev. Eventually Mayor stopped trying and sighed.

"We're out of gas. Looks like we're gonna have to leg it." Mayor said. He turned the truck off and got out. Isabelle looked at Mayor and got out as well. "Come on. Let's go. The checkpoint may be there forever but I'd rather not test it." Mayor said. The two moved forward and past the truck. Mayor watched as they went along to make sure they kept safe. Mayor pulled out his hatchets from the sheath and he started to juggle them. "Stand back, Izzy." Mayor said. She stepped away slightly and watched with joy as Mayor juggled the dangerous small axes.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Isabelle asked. Mayor chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah but I just wanted to entertain you." Mayor said.

"Mayor." Isabelle said. He stopped juggling and looked at her.

"Yes?" Mayor responded.

"Do you have any stories? You know from your past?" Isabelle asked. Mayor thought. He chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, actually." Mayor said. He folded the hatchets and put them back in his sheath. "What would you like to hear?" He asked.

Isabelle thought. "Just. Start from the beginning. Anything." She said anxious to learn more about him as if she didn't already know a lot.

Mayor leaned himself back, took a breath and smiled with closed eyes. "When I was a kid. I remember my mom as a woman who never gave up. I had a military father so I rarely saw him but when I did they seemed like most of the best moments in my life." Mayor opened his eyes and looked at the sky. "We would all cherish being together I'm not gonna lie sometimes there were problems but all together everything seemed alright. I was never the best in school. I barely passed high school with a GED degree. I wanted to go military as soon as I finished school and college helped me advance in rank if I finished." Mayor said.

"Military?" Isabelle wondered she soon started to think of what kind of man Mayor would have been for hardened and military. Probably not too different from how he is now. But the thought of him in uniform creeped up on her and made Isabelle blush. She waved the thought away and continued to listen to him.

"But that dream stopped. I still wanted to do it but then a group of people stopped me at a station, called me Mayor and let me help the town." Mayor said. He looked at Isabelle with a grin. She knew what he meant. "What about you? Tell me a story from your life." Mayor said. Isabelle thought and smiled looking at the ground from this thought.

"Yeah. I remember how my brother and I used to play in the yard of our house until night and then we'd look at the moon for a few minutes before going inside." Isabelle said. Mayors eyebrows raised with a smile. "One night we stayed outside until midnight. Digby said I had fallen asleep on his shoulder so he went and grabbed a blanket to let me sleep out in the moonlight." Isabelle's eyes closed. She started to tear up from the overwhelmingly happy memory. "When I woke up I was surrounded by lightning bugs. They all glowed like a little light show as I stared up at the moon." Isabelle finished. She wiped her eyes and looked at Mayor who was smiling at her.

"Sounds beautiful." Mayor said. "Makes me wish I had a brother or sister." Mayor said. He chuckled once and continued.

"Mr. Mayor." Isabelle said. Mayor looked back at her in acknowledgement. "How long do you think it'll be until we get there?" Mayor put a finger to his chin and thought. The car definitely advanced them in timeline reference but he never had the time to just think about what's going on. He shrugged.

"I don't know. I guess we'll just keep going until we find the checkpoint. That truck though. I'm gonna guess seven, six maybe eight days now." Mayor said thinking. He shook his head. For all he knew his numbers could be off.

"Well It's almost twelve. Do you think that maybe we can have lunch early today for the time advancement?" Isabelle asked. Mayor looked back at her with a single raised brow. Her big sparkling eyes penetrated Mayors very soul and he smiled.

"Fine. Come on. We're in the middle of what looks to be a shopping district though. Let's find a store or something to hole up in for lunch." Mayor said. Isabelle looked around and saw a small eating place.

"Sir! There!" Isabelle said excitedly. He looked over to see an old withered down place called 'Show Time's Pizza". Mayor wondered for a bit then rolled his eyes with a smile.

"Alright alright. We'll go there." Mayor said. The two walked over and Mayor turned on his flashlight before entering the doors. The inside of the building was old, dark and for lack of a better word, dead. Mayor went over to the dining area and took off his backpack. He opened it and reached inside pulling out a small oil cooker. He looked at Isabelle who was looking at the animatronic animals on the stage over their instruments. "I take it you've been here before?" Mayor asked.

Isabelle nodded not turning her attention from the machines. "I used to love playing and eating here as a kid. I would always host my birthday parties here." She said. Mayor had put a can of pasta on the burner, the blue flame edging on the aluminum can. He opened the can to stir it with some silverware he would later see if he could find from the kitchen. If not he could pull out some from his backpack. He stepped over to Isabelle and looked at the pup girl waving her tail watching the still animatronics.

"Enjoying the show?" Mayor asked. Isabelle giggled and kept watching the stage.

"Yeah. Sorry I'm getting all nostalgic." Isabelle said. Mayor smiled and raised a hand defensively.

"Nah. It's fine. Watch all you want. Just make sure to sit down and eat sometime. You are the one who asked me to move feeding time closer." Mayor said. Isabelle nodded and continued to reminisce on her past.

Isabelle started to sing child luring songs. Mayor listened to her as he rummaged through the kitchen looking for the silverware. Eventually after about five pots and pans down he found them in a small box. Mayor grabbed two forks and spoons from the box and brought it back to the dining area. Isabelle was still humming along to the songs she remembered. Mayor stirred the canned pasta and let it warm again.

"Mr. Mayor." Isabelle said. Mayor looked up at her. She still seemed to be just watching the animatronics. "Do you think if this all blows over, things will go back to normal?" Isabelle wondered. Mayor stopped for a moment. He had to truly think about this one. He didn't have any real answer.

"I don't know, Izzy. Truly I don't. If it does go back to any state we call normal then one thing I know is that we'll definitely be more wary and secure about this sort of thing." Mayor said. "Last thing any of us want is another incident like this." He finished.

"I guess you're right. I hope things do go back to normal. Or at least as normal as things can be." Isabelle said. "Then maybe I'll have more a chance to do something I've been wanting to do for a while now." She ended.

"What's that?" Mayor asked.

"A thing. It's secret." Isabelle responded. Mayor chuckled and nodded.

"Fair enough." Mayor put down the now cooked can pasta in front of Isabelle's eating ware. Mayor started to cook his own and sat back waiting. "Come on, Isabelle. Time to eat." Mayor said. He smiled and let Isabelle start eating and watch the show she had remembered going on the stage. Mayor smiled and waited for his food to cook. he finished cooking the food and pulled it off. Opening the can Mayor started to dig in. He felt happy now that he was able to eat on a normal time stamp again. Mayor took a few bites before suddenly stopping and looking out into the games area. Isabelle looked over at Mayor seeing his sudden movement out of the corner of her eye and wondered what he was looking at. He slurped up his noodles and kept looking.

"Mr. Mayor? Is everything alright?" Isabelle asked. Mayor raised his hand to signal for her to stay silent. Mayor kept looking and finally a sound of falling and things hitting each other was faintly heard. Mayor took out a hatchet from his sheath and stood up. "Mr. Mayor!" Isabelle whispered. Mayor kept walking to see if he could find the source of the noise and deal with it. Isabelle worried as Mayor disappeared into the darkness of the not at all lit pizzeria.


	6. Chapter 6

Mayor stepped into the dark games area of the restaurant and disappeared from Isabelle's sight. Isabelle put the fork with some pasta in her mouth and watched the dark area Mayor had disappeared into. She wondered what could possibly be making that noise. Clicker? Normal infected? Bloater? She didn't know. "Isabelle!" Mayor whispered loudly. Her eyebrows raised. "Come here a moment." Mayor said. Isabelle ate one more bite and stood up wiping her mouth with a napkin. She slowly stepped into the darkness and saw the faint glow of Mayors light with the slight bit outlining Mayor himself.

"Yes, sir?" Isabelle asked. She got close and Mayor put his arm before her stopping her from continuing forward. "What?" Isabelle looked at what the light was pointing at. She pulled her paw hands to her mouth. A man lay there covered in the fungus. The large tendrils covered him and released spores of the deadly fungus. Mayor pushed her back using his outstretched arm when stepping back himself.

"That's why I asked if you brought a gas mask." Mayor said. A small orange cloud surrounded the dead man. "He's way past infected." He finished.

"Then, let's finish eating and go then." Isabelle said. Mayor nodded and brought her back to the tables. They continued to eat but Isabelle felt a sense of worry and fear in her stomach. She looked up at Mayor who almost looked disconnected with a slight hint of worry but nothing more. "Mr. Mayor." Isabelle said. He looked up.

"Yes?" He responded.

"How do you do that?" Isabelle asked. Mayor tilted his head obviously confused. "I mean whenever the worst comes to pass you show very little fear or worry. I was wondering how you're able to do that." She finished.

Mayor took one more bite and swallowed it with a sigh. "Well, Isabelle. Truth is I worry a lot more than I'd like to admit." Mayor started. He raised his eyes to her. "I worry for the happiness of the people, I worry about implementing the correct ordinances and nowadays it seems I worry about the safety of the town more than anything." He pulled out his pistol. "I remember when I kept this thinking it would just be there and I would never need to use it. Then Shari turned and I had to." He turned it from side to side. "Once we get back I'm going to invest a good portion of town money towards weapons and trainers to help the villagers get associated with them and know how to use them... In the case of an emergency it just seems like the best choice." Mayor holstered his pistol again. "So. I worry a lot. I just try not to show it because then it worries the citizens that I wanted to give hope to, The cops I specially chose to keep the town safe and to a more extension I don't want to worry you." Mayor finished.

Isabelle looked at her food. "Oh. Well..." Isabelle didn't know what to say. Mayor was worried. Scared? He still goes through with the things he does. It's surprising. Isabelle finished her food as did Mayor and the two left the building. They walked down the road of the shopping district and Mayor noticed where they were.

"Hey. I know this town." Mayor said.

"Really? What is it?" Isabelle asked.

"This is Boondocks." Mayor said with a smile. Isabelle was confused. She used to hear that Boondocks was terribly poor. How did it ever come to be a beautiful city that fell to this fungus and rot. "This place used to suck from what I heard. _Grilled cheese sandwiches made of mud and cheese, but no cheese. Just more mud!_" Mayor chuckled. He remembered someone saying that to him. "I used to donate to the _Boondocks cause_ when I was a kid. They made it seem so bad that I couldn't help but donate." He said with a grin. "Either I was conned of my money or the donations poll really worked." Mayor chuckled. Isabelle smiled at the joke as well.

"It looks so nice given it's current state." Isabelle said. "I feel like I remember this city. I wonder." Isabelle thought back for a moment and remembered they had went here once for a Mayor Council meeting. That was about three years ago though. She remembered it being the first time Mayor and Isabelle had gone there together and Isabelle's first time there anyways so they went exploring around the city. Isabelle snapped out of the memory and saw Mayor had been looking at her.

"You ok?" He asked.

Isabelle blushed. "Y-yes, I'm fine. Sorry for the hold up, let's continue." Isabelle said quickly. She continued to walk forward with an embarrassed grin.

"Ok." Mayor said simply. he walked with her looking around the city. All the cracks looked kinda nice and complimented the city. Instead of just being bleak and brown the city still had a sort of color despite it's dying and feral state. Mayor couldn't help but somewhat grin at the harmonious mixture of man made structures and greenery. It reminded him of what he liked about New Leaf. A gracious almost musically artistic mixture of both building and vegetation. During all of this a new thought had occurred. How much food do they have left? Mayor checked his bag and saw they had dwindling food supplies. "Isabelle?" Mayor said. Isabelle looked back at Mayor. Her quick reaction to him earlier seemed to have caused her to speed up ever so lightly but just enough to get in front of him.

"Yes, sir?" Isabelle asked.

"Food supplies are scarce. We have two choices. eat snacks until we get there or we search around for food." Mayor said. Isabelle thought.

"We should just work off the snacks we have. We had our chance to find food in the market and we're way past that. We should keep moving due to time constraints." Mayor nodded in agreement.

"Alright. Then let's keep going." Mayor put his backpack back on and Isabelle started to slow down as to let him lead.

"Mayor, I have a question if you don't mind me asking." Isabelle said.

"Well I may have an answer to your question." Mayor said jokingly.

"Do you know what the checkpoint looks like?" Isabelle asked. Mayor stopped for a moment and thought. From what he could recall they would pass the checkpoint every time they went to a different town. It was a large concrete building with a big metal door that would be open for those wanting to pass. However it was set on a timer so that it closes at night when the infected tended to be most active.

"It's a large concrete building if I remember correctly." Mayor said. "We pass it on the way to visit my old friend, the red mayor Abby." He said. Isabelle thought for a moment herself but came up with nothing. Mayor was pretty understanding of it though because she would usually either be working on some paperwork or sleeping on the seat. She shrugged and continued to walk with the Mayor. Soon the streets started become bleak and even more rotten the farther they went in the city just to get out of it.

"Mayor. Tell me. This checkpoint is beyond this city right? This is the last big place possibly filled to the brim with infected?" Isabelle asked.

"Hopefully. I know the checkpoint is somewhere beyond here but... Grr. I can't remember if there's an old village between us and it or not." Mayor said tapping his head. Mayor kept trying to think while Isabelle looked around. She saw shambling movement in the buildings.

"Uhh. Mayor." She whispered quietly. Mayor however was trying to think still paying little attention to his surroundings and sounds near him. "Mayor!" Isabelle whispered louder with more intensity. He however was still in thought. "Mayor!" Isabelle said with a louder whisper." Mayor still seemed fixed. The infected creatures started to shamble out of the buildings. "Mayor!" Isabelle exclaimed. Mayor finally snapped out of his thought induced absence and looked at her

"What?" Mayor asked quickly sensing the urgency in Isabelle's voice.

"Infected!" Isabelle said. Mayor looked over to a building doorway where he heard a dead holler. An infected runner was there. It charged at the two. Mayor reacted as quick as he could grabbing Isabelle's hand and ran with her down the cracked and torn street. They ran through the street with the runners yells calling more close. More infected started to follow behind the two. This made Mayor regret his decision to run but he had no choice any more. They came to a wall and Mayor put his back to it cupping his hands.

"Step up!" Mayor exclaimed. Isabelle put a foot in his hand and he tossed her up the wall. As soon as he did Isabelle turned and reached a hand down to him. Mayor jumped and grabbed it. Isabelle lifted up with as much force as she could and Mayor assisted by trying to pull himself up as well. As soon as he was pulled up he was tossed over by accident and landed on his back on the concrete followed by a searing pain in his side. Mayor sat up with a hand on his back. "Modda... da-it." He couldn't finish his sentences. Isabelle fell to her feet and kneeled down to help him up.

"Mr. Mayor! Are you ok?" Isabelle asked. Mayor nodded slowly and could only grunt as he was helped. The searing pain kept pulsing in his left side. "Mayor!" Isabelle said. Mayor opened his eyes and saw the cause of the pain. A piece of rusty rebar stabbed through him. He poked it without thought just as a natural reaction. No feeling.

"Isabelle. I need your help." Mayor said. He grabbed her hand and softly placed it on the rebar. Isabelle looked at Mayor worried. "Now pull." Mayor said.

"But sir, isn't it gonna hurt?" Isabelle asked.

"Yes but we have no choice." Mayor said.

"I'm sure there's someone around here. Someone who can help." Isabelle looked around. Mayor put his hand on her shoulder.

"Iz, we don't have time. Just pull it." Mayor said. Isabelle hesitated for a moment then started to softly pull. Mayor grunted and Isabelle stopped.

"I'm so sorry, sir." Isabelle pleaded.

"Don't apologize. You're doing great. Just pull harder." Mayor said. A yell came from the end of the alley they were in. Mayor and Isabelle looked at the opening of the alleyway and saw a runner. "Keep pulling. I'll deal with it." Mayor leaned against Isabelle. She started to pull as Mayor took aim. Mayor couldn't aim steadily however as the pain made his hands shake. Mayor shot once. Miss. Even that risked their safety more than the runner in front of them but he had no choice. He shot again. Miss. mayor opened the chamber as the infected got closer. He spun it and placed it back in. Mayor shot once more. The infected was hit in jaw. it stopped a moment and looked up at the two. Isabelle yanked the rebar piece out with one final pull. The wind was knocked out of Mayor as he was trying to line up another shot. He dropped his hand and looked back at the infected. it started to charge again. He pushed Isabelle out of the way and fell forward intercepting the fiend. It toppled over with Mayor on top of it. He grabbed a brick and started to beat it's head with the piece of red building stone. Eventually the creature stopped twitching. Mayors breath was heavy. He awkwardly got to his feet trying not to fall over. Isabelle wrapped one of his arms over her shoulder.

"Come on, Mister M. You need some rest. We're gonna stay somewhere for the night." Mayor wanted to refute and continue on with their path but couldn't. He blacked out as he raised a hand.

Isabelle felt Mayor drop over her shoulder. He wasn't moving but he was breathing. She dragged him to an open building and laid him on a row of seats in the lobby of it. She pulled Mayors back pack off him and opened it looking to see if he had prepared for any of these medical problems. She pulled out a bottle of rubbing alcohol and bandages. She lifted Mayors sweatervest and pulled his shirt from his pants. The wound was deep and was bleeding badly. The smell made Isabelle want to puke. She covered her nose with the rag for a moment. Took a deep breath to hold and placed it on Mayors side. He cringed from the pain for a moment then relaxed. Isabelle sighed. The smell wasn't gone but she didn't feel so nauseous anymore so it was better. She sat back on the tile flooring of the building. "Oh, Mayor. What did you agree too? What did I agree to?" Isabelle asked. she sat there next to him as he lay there. No movement. No sound. Just breathing.

The steady sound of Mayors breathing only from his usually slightly deep voice was frightening. Isabelle started to slowly weep. She put her head in her arms as she sat there. Just Mayors breathing without a voice to match scared her. If he were regularly asleep she wouldn't mind but what they just went through was the defining moment. She was scared she may not make a difference between whether he lives or dies. "I just want to say I'm sorry, sir." Isabelle said. "I know you didn't want me to come because I'd slow you down. You were worried I would get hurt and that you'd die before you even got there." Isabelle wept into her arms more. No response from Mayor. He just breathed while laying there. Isabelle slowly calmed down. She stood up and went to go look outside. This building was near the city limits so she wanted to see if she could get a good idea as to what they would be dealing with when Mayor came to.

Isabelle looked outside and thought she saw something discolored. It was greyish. Out of place from the green of the forest. Almost like a hill or large boulder. Isabelle looked back at Mayor. Despite curiosity she refused to leave him when he especially needed her. She went back to his side and sat down on one of the seats he wasn't on. She looked down on his chest seeing his holster. Empty. She jumped. Where was it? The last place he could have left it was... Out in the alleyway with the dead infected corpse. Isabelle looked at Mayor. She wondered if he would be fine if she stepped out for a moment to go and grab it. Would she have a choice. That weapon could be important. She stood up and walked out the front of the door to the building, closing it tightly upon her leaving.

Isabelle made it to the alleyway and saw the light start to diminish over the sides of the buildings. The metal objects in the alley started to gleam with shine. She looked around as she walked in. The shadows covered areas making them seem more tense and still but something in her kept telling her that something was waiting. She saw the gun. It was laying by the drained corpse from the infected they encountered earlier. Isabelle slowly and cautiously grabbed the gun wondering if anything was around. She tried to be like Mayor and open the chamber. She looked all around the rounded device eventually pressing a button making the chamber fall and hold to the left side of it. All the cases in it seemed to be there so she didn't know how to count how many rounds she had. She looked at the front of the chamber and pushed on the chrome stem on the front.

The cases fell pinging as they hit the ground. Two rounds had something left in them. She picked them up and put them in the pistol. She pressed the chamber back into the pistol and looked down the sights. "Well. It looks fine." She said continuing to look down the sights. Isabelle turned and looked at one of the dark corners. An infected stood up and started to run towards her. Isabelle quickly turned and started to run. She stopped a moment and tried to shoot the gun. It only clicked. She tried again only making it click. She turned to run. She shoved the pistol into the waist of her pants and pulled out her knife from its sheath. Until she learned the basics about the pistol this was her only weapon. Isabelle stopped and waited. She wrapped both hands around the handle and pointed the knife up. She aimed it at the infected running to her. She pulled her arm back, closed her eyes and pushed her hand with the knife in it forward with as much force as she could shoving it through the infected eye socket.

It fell over squirming for a second spurting blood from it's eye socket. Isabelle took a step back letting it have it's go. It stopped eventually, both arms falling to the ground next to it. Isabelle looked at the knife then wiped it on her pant leg. She realized it was much easier than she thought. This scared her more than last time but he had no time to react. She skipped crying and ran to the building again. Isabelle entered the glass doors and closed them tightly behind her. Her breathing was heavy with strain and her mind racing from fear and the pride she had now that she was able to take those things on without much worry. She still feared killing things however. It took Mayor to realize that they weren't even alive anymore. Isabelle sat down on the tile next to Mayor and looked at him. He didn't seem as pale as when he was first brought into the building. She was happier to see him like this. It seemed more like he was just resting now. It helped give her the idea that he was safe which is most likely what he would have wanted her to think anyways. Isabelle laid her head back on Mayors cheek and sat with him. His breathing rhythmically soothing her.


	7. Chapter 7

The dead city of Boondocks seemed to be getting more irritated as time went on. More things would crash, break and even fall apart. Isabelle traversed these areas with utmost caution as she passed through. She took Mayors flashlight and looked around for food supplies. It had been two days since Mayor was stabbed through and knocked out from shock. Since then Isabelle had trained herself little with his pistol even taking and using his more well prepared bag. She left her bag with Mayor in a building office behind a locked door. "Come on, you can't be picked clean." Isabelle gripped to herself. This is the first time she found herself actually complaining about something. She had found herself in a supermarket with two floors on the second floor looking for any kind of canned products. So far Isabelle had acquired from this hunt two cans of beans green and mexican as well as some evaporated milk with a what looked to be an expiration date that ends in 3 months.

"Dangit!" Isabelle said. She couldn't find any more cans. It was mostly just rotten bread and spoiled milk now. "I guess I should be appreciative of what I found in this place as it is." She said looking slightly disappointed. Isabelle sighed and stood from her crouch when she was checking the bottom shelf. As she started to leave the building Isabelle pulled the pistol out of the waist of her pants and took a look at it. She still had no idea how to get it to shoot. She let the chamber out to see if there was something obstructing the barrel but nothing. She tried recovering thought on how Mayor did it. She only saw him loading it or what she could remember. Something about the pointed back piece though stuck out. It seemed to just stick out. Like it was meant for more.

Isabelle pulled back on the pointed piece and it clicked, rotating the chamber. She looked at it in wonder. She may have just discovered how to shoot it. She opened the chamber and pulled the trigger so it couldn't do anything. It clicked and the piece went in like a hammer. It was then she remembered. Mayor had once described his pistol to her back in town about half a year ago. "These are the pieces. The barrel," He started to point at the places on the gun when he spoke about them. "The body, The chamber, the handle, the stock and finally the hammer but only revolvers show their hammers." Mayor had said pointing to the back pointed piece. Isabelle now knew how to shoot the gun and in the safety of things decided to just keep the barrel away from her at all times. She pushed the chamber back in and placed it in her pants back waist.

"I need to get back to those offices. It's starting to become noon." Isabelle said. She opened the doors to the giant store and left walking through the massive parking lot. A lot of empty dead cars lay there. No infected seemed to be anywhere in sight. They were most likely hiding for the moment. Isabelle took this opportunity and tried to jog as quickly as she could back to the offices. In the two days that Mayor has been unconscious Isabelle had encountered three clickers and a small group of infected only killing about six in total. She had some notches under her belt now but the way it went she worried this was making her a monster. She didn't realize how changing this adventure was to be. Isabelle was still the same however or at least she felt the same. She would occasionally test herself by thinking back to a happy memory of hers and smile at it to make sure she was still herself.

Isabelle was remembering the time Digby introduced her to New Leaf where he was going to work and she liked the place so much she eventually signed on to work as mayor Tortimer's secretary. Soon enough Tortimer left and Mayor came in to take his place. She smiled at the thought. Isabelle pulled out of her pocket a shiny rainbow shell that Mayor had found on the beach for her during his first week at New Leaf. Her eyes started to tear up as she remembered that the same man who did that is currently asleep from a wound that went completely through his body. She put the shell back in her pocket and continued. Isabelle heard a clanging from the alley next to her. She was close to the offices. Nothing was gonna stop her. She needed to continue. Leaving the sound Isabelle continued jogging again. She made it to a corner and saw two guys talking to each other by the entrance of the building. Before she accidently walked into view Isabelle quickly hid behind the corner.

"Who are these two?" Isabelle asked herself.

"I don't know, sir. Something is in there. Maybe it's alive." One man said.

"And you suspect this, why?" The other asked sarcastically.

"One of the doors that we checked last time we were here is now locked and barricaded." The first man said.

Isabelle wanted to step out and intervene but stopped herself feeling a presence on her shoulder. She looked behind her and nothing seemed to be there. Isabelle looked back at the two in wonder as to what the thing that touched her shoulder was. She started to think that maybe it was the Mayor's cautious influence of the outside starting to rub off on her.

"I don't know. Maybe some idiot biting off more than he chew went in there to die. If so let's go grab his supplies." The second one suggested. Isabelle's eyes widened with fear. Did they mean Mayors room. Were they going after him and their supplies. She couldn't take that chance. Isabelle crouched down and started to tail them as soon as they opened the door. She'd stay hidden behind corners and wait for them to move again. "This it?" The second man asked.

"Yes sir." The first one responded. The second man pointed at it and the first started to kick at the door. The first kick startled Isabelle and made her fall back with a thud. The second man turned and looked around the hallway.

"Keep doing that. I heard something." He said. The man started to carefully walk over to the door Isabelle was hidden behind. She quickly started scuttling around looking for something to use. She grabbed a brick that was laying in the room behind her. She crawled in and stood tall in the corner. Isabelle stood there waiting. The man stepped in and looked around for something completely missing Isabelle. Isabelle slowly stepped up behind him and practically threw the brick at the man's head. He fell over and dropped the weapon he had. Isabelle looked at the weapon. It was a two handed gun. She picked it up and looked down it's sights.

"Floyd? Bro, you ok?" The other man asked. The kicking had stopped and the sound of wood creaking was all that was left.

"Oh mod. He's in." Isabelle stood by the open door and looked around at the gun. Everything seemed about right. She looked around the edge of the door.

"Hey!" The man yelled seeing Isabelle peek out. Isabelle jumped behind a rock pillar that had fallen when the city fell. She sat against the pillar and waited. The man had started shooting at her. Bullets whizzed by like lightning and struck the pillar as well making a cracking and punching sound when hitting the rocks and walls. Eventually the bullets stopped. Isabelle looked over the pillar and saw the man reloading. She took a breath and jumped up aiming the gun. She shot at the man. Bullets flew by and through the man. He yelled and fell back bleeding. Isabelle's arms dropped but held the gun tightly. She was breathing heavily and slowly walked over to the man. She looked at his arm where a patch seemed to be. It had the outline of a skull of an ape on it.

"Who... Who are these guys?" Isabelle wondered. She didn't know. She had no time. If these guys were affiliated with any sort of post infection gang then they were going to be looked for soon and if they're found here like this with Isabelle and Mayor both in the building then they will be guaranteed a quick and painful death. She pat down the man in front of the door and found he was carrying some snacks and bullets for the guns him and the now knocked out man were carrying. Just remembering the knocked out man she walked into the room and looked around. A rope was in the closet of the room. She grabbed it and got a chair. She lifted the man on to the chair and tied him down. Finally taking a breath Isabelle went and grabbed Mayor. She pulled him up and over her shoulders. Mayor was heavy, no doubt about that but she had no choice but to move him.

Isabelle carried him downstairs and through the street. As she got halfway through she saw a group of two more jogging close to the building. She got behind a run down rusting car putting Mayor down by a door. He grunted a moment and even opened his eyes slightly before closing them and returning to his unconscious state. Isabelle peeked her head over the side of the car watching the two. One was a woman, one was a guy. "Come on, I swear I heard gun shots from over in Cormacks building." The man said.

"I swear Jenks if you're bullshitting me." The woman replied jogging behind him. They turned and went into the building not noticing Isabelle and Mayor.

Isabelle grabbed Mayor and pulled him up. She dragged him into the building across the street and put him down behind the lobby desk. She put a hand on his chest to make sure she knew where he was. She had no idea how many of those people there were and where they could possibly be. She kept her free hand a steady grip on the gun she had taken from the two wanderers. "I need to find a safe place." Isabelle grabbed Mayor and picked him up over her shoulder again. She brought him to the second floor and laid him down behind a desk again. Mayor grunted as he laid there. His face showed strain as if he was in his own fight, in the pain of his own.

While she had time she checked his wound patch. The patch was unstained at the top. She suspected the unconscious Mayor had stopped bleeding out and healed. She untaped the patch and looked at the wound. It started to heal but still looked strained. Isabelle applied some of the alcohol to the wound and a new patch was given. She placed it on Mayor and smiled as she finished. She was happy now noticing that maybe she did have a hand in her Mayors survival. "I hope you get better soon, sir. I need help here." Isabelle said.

"There!" A loud unknown voice said. Isabelle looked toward the voice and saw the woman. She started to shoot at Isabelle who ducked back down behind the desk. She started to look around erratically.

"Escape. Where can we escape?" Isabelle wondered as the bullets whizzed past her head. The wall next to the desk was busted and down but the space between her and the next desk was open making her fear that maybe there's another one waiting to shoot her there. She needed to see. Isabelle peeked past the wall and at the door to that room. She smiled at the door for it was empty. She stepped away from the desk hoping that soon she would distract the woman from Mayor. Isabelle pulled up her gun as she stepped over to the door bringing it up as she turned it's corner. She pulled the trigger blowing out the woman's leg. Isabelle grabbed her mouth with large eyes. She was surprised at what she just did. She knew she already killed someone but this was horrible to her. The woman screamed, still alive, in so much unbearable pain. Isabelle had no choice. She pulled the gun to the ladies head and pulled the trigger. The ladies head disappeared in a cloud of red mist. The screaming stopped and the body fell with a thud. Isabelle fell on to her knees and tried not to throw up. She dropped the gun and wrapped an arm around her stomach and the other hand around her mouth.

"Come on, Isabelle. You have to deal with this." Isabelle said to herself. Eventually she stopped feeling nauseous and just breathed heavily. Isabelle stood up with wobbly legs and stepped over to the desk. As soon as she turned around the desk the stock of a wooden gun hit her in the nose. Isabelle fell back and looked at the holder. It was the man who had entered the other building with the woman earlier.

"Look at that. A little doggie. I remember the first one I killed." He said. Isabelle scooted back as much as she could in a fear. Her nose bleeding, her eyes wide and in a pitiful state. "Say goodnight, young pup." Isabelle closed her eyes and shot went off. A thud hit the ground. Isabelle slowly opened her eyes. They stung from a sweat drop that had stopped on them while closed. The man laid dead on the ground with a look of surprise and fear on his face. She looked over at Mayor who sat there on the floor leaning against the desk with his pistol in his hand held up, his eyes open tiredly. Isabelle reached around her waist to see if she was still holding it but found nothing.

Isabelle got up and helped Mayor lean up. He grunted as he was moved forward. "Mayor! You're awake! Are you ok?" Isabelle asked.

"I'm fine. Here pick me up, please." Mayor said. Isabelle picked him up and let him try to stand. Mayors legs wobbled for a moment as he held on to the desk next to him. "Where's my sweater vest and shirt?" Mayor asked. Isabelle remembered she left it in the building across the street when she was in a hurry to bring him to this one.

"O-oh. That's in a different building. B-but I know what building it's in!" She said. Mayor looked down and stood normally. He sighed with relief as well noticing he still had his pants on too. "We can go and get it, sir but we need to keep moving." Isabelle said Mayor looked back at her and smiled. She started to talk like him in these kinds of situations then he stopped smiling.

"How long have I been out?" Mayor asked. Isabelle rubbed the tip of her foot against the ground.

"Uhm... two days, sir." Isabelle said. Mayors eyes widened and he rubbed them. He slowly responded.

"Two days, huh?" He asked. Isabelle nodded.

"Yes, sir." Isabelle said. Mayor stretched.

"Well then you're right. We need to get going before anything stops us again." Mayor said. "We'll pick up my shirt and vest before we continue though. I feel exposed without my vest." Mayor said with his eyes closed in embarrassment. Isabelle giggled and blushed.

Mayor walked with Isabelle out of the building. Mayor stepped past the bodies of the deceased uncaringly, still in his tired state. This made it clear to Isabelle Mayor needed some time to both fully wake up and recollect himself. Isabelle brought Mayor to the building she left his clothes in. They went in to the office and Mayor put his buttoned shirt on and tucked it in. He slid his sweater vest on and smiled a bit. He looked at Isabelle and his smile seemed to be more deep and caring than she's ever seen him use before. "Isabelle, I'm glad you were able to take care of yourself long enough for me to wake up. I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you and by the looks of things you really needed the help." Mayor said. His smile faded when he said that.

"No!" Isabelle refuted with a surprised look. "It's fine really. It was rough but I understand. Plus it was kind of my fault for dropping you on a rusty piece of rebar." Isabelle said. Mayor's smile returned and he hugged her.

"I'm so glad you're ok." Mayor said. Isabelle was caught by surprise by the hug and slowly started to hug back a smile blooming on her face all the while.

"I'm glad you're ok as well, sir." Isabelle said in response. She tightened her grip around him. Mayor let go and Isabelle responded by letting go of him as well. "We should go. I saw a large rock structure just outside the city. I think it may be the checkpoint." She finished.

Mayor nodded. "Right. Let's go." Mayor said. He returned the pistol to his holster, clipping it down. Mayor and Isabelle left the building and started walking to the city limits. Mayor lead the two out and on to wooded path.

"Just think. We're almost done with this." Isabelle said.

"Almost makes me well up with joy." Mayor said with a chuckle. The two walked into the forest and up to the large rock like building. "Well. This is it." Mayor looked at Isabelle who pulled her gun up to her chest, looked at Mayor determined and nodded. Mayor turned his head and looked at the iron door. He tried to open it. Locked. "Looks like we're gonna have to do this the hard way." Mayor said. He lifted his foot and kicked the door with a strong impression.


	8. Chapter 8

The large iron door flew against the concrete walls cracking it slightly. After about six kicks in Mayor finally broke the iron screws behind the lock. The building was dark but enough light poured in from the window to see. It was enough to see but just so little to make both of them uncomfortable. He unsheathed his hatchets and opened them stepping inside with Isabelle stepping in behind with both her gun and her guard up. Mayor looked up at the places internal charge system and all the turbines seemed fine. "Hmm." Mayor wondered.

"What's wrong?" Isabelle wondered turning her eyes to Mayor.

"The turbines. They seem fine. Since the whole railway system is connected it practically gets it's jump charge from the towns." Mayor said. He put a finger to his chin and thought. "The only way it could be shut down is if an infected or someone else manually messed with the switch." He kept wondering then shook his head. "Whatever. We may never know. What matters is getting the station running again and the checkpoint reactivated." Mayor walked with isabelle past the turbines.

"Sir, do you feel off?" Isabelle asked. She looked around seeing something she thought was moving in the darkness. Shadows jumping from corner to corner.

"Yeah. I feel it. I thought I was just being paranoid. Every checkpoint is supposed to have at least one map inside every structure in the case of emergency situations. If we can find that map then we can get our bearings." Mayor said. The two walked past the pipes in the building that brought electricity from one turbine to another. Eventually after walking past the turbines they saw a slightly ripped map of the building on the wall. Mayor looked at it. It showed where they were and where they needed to go but the pathway was obstructed from view as it was ripped off.

"Look. We can go that way, sir." Isabelle said pointing out the path.

"In that case let's move." Mayor said. He lead Isabelle up to the catwalk and away from shadowy corners. Getting to the point of the doorway to the path they heard the all too familiar sound of a clicker around. Isabelle raised her gun and looked around. Mayor held his Hatchets at the ready.

"Instructions, sir?" Isabelle asked. Mayor didn't see it but just heard it's clicking.

"Keep an eye out. Don't mess with it if we don't have to. Just keep going and let's get to that room." Mayor said. Isabelle acknowledged and started to lead down the metal skyway with her gun. Mayor walked behind her with his hatchets ready to attack. The two got to the next structure over and Isabelle looked over the railing.

"Uhh. S-sir." isabelle whispered. Mayor looked at her then over the railing at what she was looking at. It was the workers. All had been infected. They were either walking around and twitching or standing still and grumbling insanities to themselves.

"Oh Mod." Mayor said. His eyes wide with worry and genuine fear. There was no less than a dozen of them in that very structure. He looked around and noticed that boxes and tin roofing lined the rails to the catwalk. He tapped Isabelles shoulder who responded by looking at him. "Look. Boxes and tin. Stay down, keep out of sight." Mayor said. Isabelle nodded.

"Yes, sir." She said. Isabelle ducked behind a box and started to crouch walk along the metal flooring underneath her. Any noise made her worry but with all the infected standing around down there almost nothing reached them. Mayor was watching the infected making sure none were walking their way when he bumped into Isabelle who had stopped in front of him. "Mayor. Bloater!" She whispered. Mayor looked in front of her and saw the back of a bloater standing in front of them. Mayor cursed under his breath. Bloaters are just another and worse version of the clicker meaning they couldn't sneak behind it if they wanted. "Sir, look. It's moving!" Isabelle said. Mayor watched as the bloater started to trudge along the catwalk.

"We're gonna tail it. Don't let it catch you. If it does just run under him." Mayor said. When he said this Isabelle looked at the creature again noticing a large gap between it's fungus armored legs meaning she could slip by under it. Isabelle started to crouch walk behind the creature, hiding behind the boxes she came up on. Mayor followed behind putting his arm around her and his hand on the box to help her feel safe as they did this. Suddenly the beast stopped. Isabelle and Mayor stuck behind their box and looked at it. It grumbled and turned to them. Seeing this Mayor quickly reacted pulling Isabelle behind the box's corner.

"It's coming." Isabelle said. The trudging back towards them. Mayors brow started to sweat. He didn't expect it to just so suddenly stop, turn and walk again. "What do we do?" Isabelle asked.

Mayor thought as hard as he could. "Stay hidden. If he spots us then we run." Mayor said. The bloater walked out next to them and Isabelle leaned back against Mayor who was frozen as well. His eyes locked in desperate determination. Mayor was sweating bullets as he slowed his breathing to try and confuse or get rid of the bloater. It stood for a moment and then started to walk past them. Mayor sighed and tried to start breathing normally again. He put his hand on Isabelles shoulder. "Go." Mayor whispered. She slowly started to walk again towards the doorway to the electricity room. Mayor started to walk but as he moved his sleeve got caught and a loud rip interrupted the sounds of the infected. The bloater turned it's head to them and growled. The infected on the ground floor looked up and roared. Isabelle had frozen. "Izzy, Go! Run!" Mayor exclaimed. He pulled his sleeve from the catching metal. Mayor and Isabelle ran down the catwalk as the running infected ran up the stairs and through the catwalk walkway. Mayor and Isabelle ran out on to a skyway to another building. The two ran over it. Mayor opened the door and let Isabelle in. The infected tailing her really closely Mayor slammed the door and put the three locks into place.

Mayor and Isabelle's breath was run out and they stopped a moment to catch it. Mayor looked up and at the room. His face immediately went low. He stood normally. "No." Mayor simply said. Isabelle turned her attention to the room as well. She looked around. pin boards, a radio, logs. This wasn't the electricity room. "No, no no no!" Mayor yelled at himself. He looked at a filing cabinet and punched it. His fist made a knuckle imprint on the metal surface. Mayor didn't react to the pain and instead sat in a chair, put his head down and started to slam his fist on the desk. "All that work. All those days risking our lives. All that time fighting through raiders and the infected just for us to screw up and die in the communications room without even getting the train checkpoint reactivated!" Mayor yelled at himself.

Isabelle looked on with a sad face at her Mayor. He seemed so down. In his current state he seemed so different but so much like how he started as mayor of New Leaf. He blamed himself for failure and whenever he did he would think about how he could have fixed it in the time instead of working on a way to fix it now. Isabelle stepped over to Mayor and put a hand on him rubbing his back. "It's ok, sir. We tried our best." Isabelle said. Mayor shook his head.

"No. No, It's not ok. My best wasn't enough. I was tasked with getting this place back up and running and not only did I fail at that, but I also got you killed with me." Mayor said his voice muffled by his mouth pressed into his arm.

Isabelle's thought for a moment but couldn't come up with anything to say to him. She sighed and sat next to him. Isabelle looked at him. "Sir. If this truly is our last moments together then I think it's best I admit something." Isabelle said. Mayor raised his head slightly and looked at her indicating him listening. "I came on this trip for other reasons rather than just to give you back up." Isabelle said. She took a deep breath in and sighed. "I came here... To impress you." Isabelle said. Mayor looked at her slightly confused. "I wanted to spend more time with you and hoped that while we were out here you'd see how useful I really am. How impressive I am. I wanted you to "notice" me per say." Isabelle said. Mayor leaned up slightly.

"I... Izzy. Is... Is this true?" Mayor asked. She looked at him and nodded.

"Yes, sir. You may not feel the same for me but if we are to die here... Then it's best you know that I really, really like you." Isabelle said. Mayor looked down. His knuckles were red and a small indent was made in the desk. He looked at Isabelle with tear filled eyes.

"Can I say something?" Mayor asked. Isabelle nodded wanting to hear his response to this news. "You know those times when I would I stay up too late? It was because I wanted to impress you." Mayor said. Isabelle looked at him somewhat surprised. "You had a worker bee attitude and I thought the only way to impress you was to try and be just like that. I wanted to give you a man who could provide for you." Mayor said.

"You're a confident man, Mayor. I'm surprised you never asked me out." Isabelle said looking at him.

Mayor made a pathetic smile. "I play off things well, Isabelle. You know this. Me being scared in the true heat of things when all goes down I'm the "Calm and confident one" leading the citizens. If they knew how much I really worried I fear they would trust me less as a mayor for their town." Mayor said. "That ties in with why I never asked you on a date. I never thought I deserved you. I would hype myself up to try and do it but... Never did because... I thought you'd want someone else. Someone better." Mayor said.

Isabelle looked at Mayor for a moment then hugged him. "Sir, I don't think there's anyone in the world who's better for me than you." She said. Mayor looked at her then hugged back. He could feel her warm fur and honest sensation. He smiled at the feel.

"Hey... Isabelle. do you mind singing a song?" Mayor asked. Isabelle looked at him with a slight grin. "You just have an amazing singing voice. Like whenever you hum the town tune and do your own stuff with K.K slider albums." He finished. Isabelle giggled and nodded.

"Sure, sir." She said. With a deep breath in she started to sing.

"Short steps, deep breath. Everything is alright.

Chin up, I can't step into the spotlight

She said, 'I'm sad," Somehow without any words

I just stood there searching for an answer.

When this world is no more,

the moon is all we'll see.

I'll ask you to fly away with me.

Until the stars all fall down, they empty from the sky,

But I don't mind, If you're with me, then everything's alright.

Why do my words

always lose their meaning.

What I feel, what I say.

there's such a rift between them.

he said, "I can't, really seem to read you."

I just stood there

never know what I should do

When this world is no more,

the moon is all we'll see.

I'll ask you to fly away with me.

until the stars all fall down, They empty from the sky,

But i don't mind, if you're with me, then everything's alright.

If you're with me, everything's alright."

Isabelle sang. Mayor remembered this song. He slightly teared up listening to it. This song was great at moment but nonetheless she was right. Mayor was happy he was with her of all people. During the song he put his head on her shoulder and listened while she stroked her paws through his hair.

Mayor opened his eyes and thought for a second. His tears slowly faded as he started to think. He opened his mouth with a wonder bound smile and sat up.

"Isabelle! That's it. I just thought of a way out of here!" Mayor said pulling her in front of him. Isabelle's face lit up with excitement.

"Really, sir?" She asked. Mayor nodded.

"Yes. I need to get to the radio though." Isabelle let go of Mayor and he went over to the radio and switched it on. The radio ran on a special internal battery so it was able to operate even when the station was shut down. He started to mess with the knob of it a bit. Static would switch from station to station. "Hello? Is anyone out there? This is the mayor of town New Leaf. I am requesting an emergency response." Mayor said. A static and muffled response came in. Mayor turned the knob slightly until he could make out the voices.

"Mr. Mayor. This is Hawkeye-1. Please respond." The radio replied.

"Hawkeye-1 this is Mayor of town New Leaf. I read you loud and clear." Mayor said. Isabelle was practically jumping with joy hearing the response.

"I read you . I have to ask though what you're doing all the way out here?" The pilot asked.

"I've been tasked to reactivate a train checkpoint relay. My secretary who joined me and I are both stuck in a communications room of the checkpoint. We need assistance." Mayor said in a hurried response.

"We'll be happy to help as much as we can from up here but we have no idea exactly where you are. Do you have any way to signal your position?" The pilot asked. Mayor thought for a moment. He couldn't remember much but he did remember seeing a flare somewhere. Hoping he had picked it up Mayor checked his backpack and pulled it out.

"Yes. We have an emergency evac flare to mark our position." Mayor responded.

"Get that thing active and in an open area so I can see it. I'll provide as much assistance as I can from there." The pilot said. Mayor smiled.

"Roger. We'll see what we can do." Mayor said. He finished and the radio transmission ended. He had a flare. Now what? Him and Isabelle needed to find a way out of the room.

"Well, how're we going to do this, sir." Isabelle asked. Mayor looked at the other end of the room to see a little microwave and fridge with cupboards.

"There may be something we can use to blow a hole in the wall. Then we can light the flare and find a way to the electricity room." Mayor said. He started to look through the cupboards and Isabelle started to look through the pantries and drawers. Mayor found an empty can and some fireworks. Mayor opened the can lid and popped the fireworks open draining their gunpowder into the can. Isabelle found a couple more and a string that would work as a fuse. Mayor pulled out of his bag his portable oil cooker. He drained some of the oil into the can and closed it up. Mayor put it next to the window on the opposite side of the room from the door.

Mayor got the fuse ready and squeaked the burner to life. The flame ignited the fuse giving Mayor and Isabelle just enough time to take cover behind one of the desks. The can blew making a crater large enough for the two to easily get through. Mayor stepped out first on to the metal catwalk to make sure the coast was clear and Isabelle followed right behind him. Across an open station they could see the train but between them was a horde of the infected. Mayor looked around.

"Sir, we need to find that electrical building." Isabelle said. Mayor nodded.

"I know I'm looking for it... There." Mayor said. He pointed to a building where the letters and numbers "C8-I1" were painted on the side. "The electric building is always marked by it's ID code. It's like a law or something" Mayor said. He waved Isabelle along behind him. The two were at a race against time. That explosion must have attracted any and every infected who was within a 80 yard radius of them. The pattering of feet just outside in the forest. The ones behind the door finally busted through and into the communications room. Mayor looked back and as soon as he did a bolt came loose in the catwalk. Mayor fell before the rest of the infected on the open area. Mayor put his hands under him and looked up to see runners starting to run close. Mayor pulled his pistol and tried to pull the trigger but the gun itself was jammed. Mayors face went pale as he felt this was his last moment.

Bullets flew out and hit the infected. Mayor looked up and saw Isabelle handling her gun. Mayor took this opportunity and stood running to the stairway connecting the two buildings.

Getting to the building Mayor popped the flare and tossed it on top of the electricity building. He opened the door let Isabelle in. Mayor closed the door and latched it shut. The bloater was leading the pack and as soon as it hit the door Mayor jumped back.

"Checkpoints almost activated. How're we gonna do this?" Isabelle asked catching her breath. Luckily the infected were very single minded and took the route they saw instead of the easier route which was one through a larger hole with boxes in front of it.

"Isabelle aren't the trains electric themselves? Like the inner workings." Mayor asked. Isabelle nodded finally able to breathe right.

"Yes sir. They'll need a driver. Isabelle said. Mayor thought and wondered. He looked at Isabelle.

"Isabelle I need you to hang back for the moment. Switch on the electricity. I'll get the train prepped and open the checkpoint gates. When you switch the power on run down and get to the train as quickly as possible." Mayor grabbed Isabelle and hugged her.

"Just make sure to try and stay ok." Isabelle said hugging back. Isabelle kissed him on the cheek and let Mayor go. Mayor got to the trained and got into the driver's car. Mayor looked at the switches in the car. There was one that was red and one that hung from the ceiling. Mayor assumed that the one on the ceiling was the break. Mayor messed around with the control panel for a moment and soon the power turned on.

Isabelle had flipped on the activation switch to the checkpoint. She saw Mayor step out of the train car and wave his hand. "It's on! Run over, let's get out of here!" Mayor said. Isabelle smiled and grabbed her gun. The bloater burst through the door and grabbed Isabelle. It picked her up by the throat lifting her off her feet. Isabelle grunted as the large beast choked her trying to think rapidly with clouded thought. Mayor ran over to the edge of the drop off and could only watch. He pulled a hatchet and reeled it back. Mayor tossed it, the blade spinning in midair. It whizzed by Isabelles face and caught itself in the bloaters forehead She pulled the gun up and shot the creature twice before it grabbed its face. The bloater reeled back and threw Isabelle out through the hole. Mayor ran over as fast as he could. He wasn't gonna make it. Mayor slid putting his right leg under him and his left in front to stop when he needed. Isabelle landed in Mayors arms and a cracking and breaking sound was heard. Mayor yelled to the skies. Isabelle looked at him as his face quivered in pain.

"Mayor. What happened? Are you ok?" Isabelle asked getting up.

"My leg... I-I think it's broken." Mayor said. Isabelle picked him up and put his arm around her and she started to walk to the train as quickly as she could. Mayor assisted this by pushing with his good leg. Runners charged gaining ground closer to them. Isabelle worried they weren't gonna make it. Suddenly gunshots went off and the infected started to drop behind them. Isabelle looked around and Mayor looked up. "Izzy! Hawkeye-1 is here!" Mayor pointed to the sky and a chopper flew closely to the ground mowing down the infected. They kept charging towards the line of bullets with only Isabelle and Mayor on their mind. As soon as the last one fell the chopper turned to Mayor and Isabelle. Mayor lifted his hand in a thumbs up and the chopper left. Isabelle brought Mayor to the driver's car putting him in the seat.

Mayor pressed some buttons on the trains control panel, opened the gate and pushed the accelerator. The train slowly started to move forward. Soon after it passed the gates the train picked up speed and they were on their way to Celeste town. Isabelle stood next to Mayor as he was in the drivers seat. Mayor looked at her. "Would you like to take a seat?" Mayor asked. Isabelle shrugged.

"There's no where to sit, sir." Isabelle said. Mayor shook his head with a grin.

"Well, here." Mayor said. Isabelle looked at him with wide eyes and a blush.

"But... Y-your leg." Isabelle said.

"I'll tough it out." Mayor said. Isabelle finally gave in and sat down on Mayors left leg. She laid her head down on his chest and watched as the train drove through the tree's of the forest. She eventually ended up getting drowsy.

"Sir." Isabelle said. Mayor looked down at Isabelle. "Do you think that maybe... This world... We're going to be ok?" Isabelle asked. Mayor smiled.

"Pup. We just survived the possibly deadliest situation chance could have against us. I think we'll be fine in the end." Mayor said. Isabelle yawned.

"That's good. I want... to live a full life... with..." Isabelle ended up falling asleep before finishing her sentence. Mayor smiled and just pet her and ran his fingers through the sleeping pup girls hair. He kissed the top of her head and just continued to watch as the train moved forward.


	9. Epilogue

"Thanks doc." Mayor said. It had been three months since the event. Mayor had delivered the train to Celeste town with Isabelle by his side and just got the cast off his leg after breaking it in the final event to reactivating the train station.

"It's no problem at all, Mr. Mayor. I'm gonna prescribe you some pain killers just in case you feel anything uncomfortable." Doctor Shrink said. He rolled over in his seat to his desk, wrote a note and gave it Mayor. "Give this to Timmy and Tommy. They'll help you." Doc said. Mayor stood and twirled his leg around. He kicked the ground to make sure he was fine and smiled.

Mayor left the building waving bye once more to Doctor Shrink. He walked over to Timmy and Tommy's at Nookling Junction. "Sir! Sir!" Timmy and Tommy both exclaimed seeing him enter.

"Hey guys. How's the store been going?" Mayor asked. Tommy smiled and held on to Mayors leg.

"It's been doing good, sir. How're you doing? You're not wearing your cast anymore. No pain?" Timmy and Tommy said. Mayor chuckled and kneeled to them.

"Nah, my leg's fine now but I came to pick up some painkillers just in case. You boys mind getting that for me?" Mayor asked handing them Doc Shrinks note. Timmy nodded and walked off. Tommy kept asking questions. He was curious about the outside now that him and Isabelle were able to conquer it and live. Timmy came back with a bag in his hand that had a blue label on it. "Thanks guy. Talk later ok?" Mayor said standing up again. Timmy and Tommy both waved.

"Goodbye!" They both said erratically and simultaneously. Mayor looked at the pill bottle. It read "2 a day until swelling reduces." Mayor walked over to the lookout at the edge of the market district where Tom Nook stood.

"Ah. Mr. Mayor. Good to see you're standing tall again, sir." Nook said. Mayor smiled.

"Of course. I'm guessing business has been going well?" Mayor said. Nook nodded.

"Ever since you proved that New Leaf can sustain itself and still help others three months back people have been wanting to come by." Nook said. "Many even move in permanently." Mayor looked on over the look out at the waves of the ocean.

"That sounds fantastic. You built that building to accommodate the military firearms trainers, correct?" Mayor asked.

"As per your request." Nook responded. "It seems like ever since that day things have been going just swimmingly to the point of we may be doing better than before the event happened." Nooks nose wiggled with excitement. "Well. It was good talking to you, sir but I must get back to the building and continue my work." Nook left and Mayor stood there for a moment before leaving and walking off to town hall. Mayor entered and saw Isabelle's back facing towards him as she was talking on the phone.

"Yes, ma'am. I'll inform him as soon as I see him." Isabelle said writing something on her clipboard. Mayor slowly walked up behind her. "Yes. Thank you. Have a nice day." Isabelle said. She hung up the phone.

"Who was that?" Mayor asked wrapping his arms around Isabelle. The two started to sway a bit as Isabelle happily closed her eyes.

"Oh. It was The Red Mayor Abby. She was talking with her people and they decided they want the weapons training in their town too." She said. Isabelle turned herself to Mayor and put her head on his chest. "It may be hard to believe sir but it seems you were right. Things in a way are getting better." She said. Mayor kissed the top of her head.

"Hey I'm not always wrong." Mayor said. Isabelle giggled and Mayor backed up with a smile still holding on to Isabelle's shoulders. "That reminds me. About a week back I had Labelle fix up something for you. Took me a small while to find the materials. I hope you like it." Mayor said. He let go and went over to his desk. He opened a drawer and pulled out a small box with a bow on it. "There. Open it up." Mayor said.

"Mysterious Mayor." Isabelle said jokingly. She opened the box and inside was a pure white clam shell. Isabelle took it out and stared at it. Her golden fur reflected off the surface of it's wrinkles and curves. She took it out of the box and seemed to be at a loss for words. "Mayor... I love it." She said trying to stay calm. Mayor could tell she was getting excited and grabbed the top of the shell. He slowly opened it and revealed inside was a pearl necklace. Isabelle put a hand on her mouth, her eyes glimmering. She jumped and hugged Mayor. "It's beautiful, sir!" She exclaimed happily. Mayor chuckled hugging her back.

"Again. All it did was take a while. You wanna thank anyone try Labelle. She made it I just bought it." He said. Isabelle kept hugging him.

"I will, sir. Thank you so very very much!" She said still excited. She backed up a little bit and looked at him in the eyes. "I love you, Mayor." Isabelle said. Mayor put his head to hers.

"I love you too, Isabelle." He said.


End file.
